Former BlackRock Executive is optimistic all spot Bitcoin ETF approvals will come in simultaneously.
The veteran believes the SEC will try to avoid giving any one firm the First Mover Advantage.

Martin Bednall, a former executive at top investment asset management firm BlackRock strongly believes that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve all filed spot Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) applications at the same time. 

He made this speculation while discussing in a panel at the CCData’s Digital Asset Summit which was held recently in London.

The ex-BlackRock managing director who is currently the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jacobi Asset Management is quite positive about all of the spot BTC ETF applications that have been received by the SEC. This includes filings from BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree, and Invesco among others. 

He seems very confident that they will all be approved when it is eventually time for the regulator to make a decision. Moreso, Bednall says the U.S. watchdog has an enthralling reason to give its nod to the seven applications at once. 

The Battle For Bitcoin ETF First-mover Advantage 

Notably, if any of the firms that submitted a spot BTC ETF application with the SEC receives approval first, it might give such a company the “first-mover advantage.” 

Consequently, such an investment manager would establish strong brand recognition and gain a significant part of the market. Seeing that the first-mover would have found a competitive advantage and initiated service loyalty, leaving the other entrants with little or no margin in the market.

Bednall is confident that the SEC will not want to give any of the applicants the satisfaction of a first-mover advantage. His stance further underscores Cathie Wood’s opinion about the SEC’s approval of the ETF conversion applications. 

“I think the SEC, if it’s going to approve a Bitcoin ETF, will approve more than one at once,” Cathie Woods, the CEO of ARK Invest said during an interview with Bloomberg TV a few months ago. 

Grayscale Investments, which recently bagged a victory in court over the SEC’s rejection of its application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to a physically backed ETF, also urged the regulator to simultaneously approve all the filed applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF. 

The reputation and status of the firms in question seem to be one of the factors being considered in the potential push for the SEC’s decision. Bednall pointed out that BlackRock, which is recognized as a behemoth, is also in the race for the spot in the Bitcoin ETF. Speaking of the ETF, Bednall claimed that BlackRock will throw “power behind it in terms of sales and distribution to really make sure that they get the sort of go-to ETF,  the default ETF.”

In addition, Wood also highlighted that the multiple approvals will usher in a wave of billions of dollars for the asset class. Putting it in perspective, the ARK Invest CEO sees as much as $50 billion in inflows for the proposed asset class with all spot Bitcoin ETF applications approval arriving at once.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ October 9, 2023 3:21 pm