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- Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital is seeking SEC approval for a bitcoin futures ETF.
- Galaxy and other firms are still waiting for the SEC’s word on greenlighting applications for physically backed bitcoin ETFs.
- SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently suggested he may be open to approving a bitcoin futures ETF.
- See more stories on Insider’s business page.
Galaxy Digital Holdings, the crypto-focused financial services firm run by billionaire ex-hedge fund manager Mike Novogratz, is seeking regulatory approval to start a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund.
The filing on Tuesday arrived after the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission recently suggested he may be open to approving a bitcoin-futures ETF.
If approved, the Galaxy Bitcoin Strategy ETF will invest in bitcoin futures contracts and not directly in bitcoin. Bitcoin futures contracts are traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Crypto bull Novogratz in late July told CNBC that bitcoin’s price recovery above $40,000 stemmed from buying activity by institutions.
Galaxy is a sub-advisor to CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF, a publicly traded bitcoin ETF in Canada. Galaxy is still waiting for word on whether its April filing to launch a bitcoin ETF will be approved.
Galaxy is among more than a dozen firms including Fidelity, WisdomTree Investments and Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital looking for the SEC to decide whether to greenlight their bitcoin ETF applications, with investors monitoring which will be the first bitcoin ETF in the US.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and other policy makers have cited market manipulation concerns as a reason to be cautious about bitcoin ETFs.
But Gensler in a speech earlier this month signaled he may be open to approving a bitcoin-futures ETF under a 1940 law governing mutual funds, according to a Bloomberg report. Gensler’s speech, however, disappointed some crypto enthusiasts and fund managers as the potentially more lucrative bitcoin investment vehicle is a physically backed ETF that would be regulated like regular ETFs under a 1933 law.
The first attempt at bitcoin ETF approval was in 2013 by the Winklevoss twins, Cameron and Tyler, founders of the Gemini crypto exchange.