BlackRock Reveals Plan That Seemingly Confirms Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval In January

New York-based investment juggernaut BlackRock has revealed its plan to seed its spot Bitcoin ETF filing with $10 million in January, seemingly confirming that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is well on its way to approving the first wave of proposals in just a few days.

BlackRock is advancing with its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) by submitting an updated S-1 filing with the SEC. While the majority of the filing's content has not changed, there is one interesting addition to it: the firm's plan to seed its iShares Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) with $10 million on Jan. 3.

"On January 3, 2024, the Seed Shares were redeemed for cash and the Seed Capitol Investor purchased the Seed Creation Baskets, comprising of 400,000 Shares at a pre-share price of $25.00," the filing said.

"Total proceeds to the Trust from the sale of the Seed Creation Baskets were $10,000,000, The Trust purchased [ ] bitcoin at the price of $[ ] per bitcoin with the proceeds of the Seed Creation Basket on January 3, 2024," it further noted.

This detail was first caught by Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analysts, and for Eric Balchunas, it highlights the big bump from the $100,000 BlackRock seeded to the fund in October, as well as the timeline for when the firm plans to seed it again.

"BlackRock expecting to seed $IBIT w/ $10 million on Jan 3rd... notable the date and that it is a pretty big bump up from the $100k they seeded in Oct," Blachunas wrote on X.

For James Seyffart, before the recent developments in spot Bitcoin ETF proposals and the rumored SEC guideline of its supposed approval of the applications, seed movement does not necessarily mean launch. However, he suggested that BlackRock's latest plan might actually mean the firm launching its crypto investment vehicle after the seeding.

"Before this -- SEED MOVEMENTS DO NOT MEAN LAUNCH," Seyyfart said in a post on X, before adding, "Looking like BlackRock is *planning* to make moves on Jan 3rd. They're seeding the ETF with $10 million. But maybe means BlackRock would be expecting a launch to happen shortly after?"

Last week, Fox Business reported that the U.S. could see its first spot Bitcoin ETF early next year, specifically on Jan. 10, citing a recent SEC guideline seen by "sources close to these firms."

The final deadline for the SEC to decide on the application submitted by Cathie Wood's Ark Investment Management in partnership with 21Shares is set for Jan. 10.

Seyffart, however, clarified that BlockRock's plan does not mean it is already the final and approved document, as it can still be changed anytime.

"Putting this here so everyone understands that this is not a final or approved or 'effective' document because I can see the hype building a bit too much," Seyffart said in a post on X.

Moreover, the ETF analyst underlined that this is more likely throwing a bone due to the hype the spot Bitcoin ETF is creating and because the date aligns with the "genesis block date."

"Also, they're obviously just teasing us by throwing that date in there because its the Genesis block date. obviously. Duh," the ETF analyst added.