Back to school time

Coming back after the summer break always reminds us of the return to school, those dreaded back to school adverts, buying school uniforms and getting new books for the year ahead. Yuck

For those of you shuffling back into the office you missed out on last week’s big news. Grayscale gave the SEC a bloody nose and the price of Bitcoin took a jump as a result. High drama indeed. Who said summer was always a quiet time.

US Bitcoin ETF application frenzy reminds us of Jaws

It has been wild since BlackRock submitted its application for a Bitcoin ETF. Seemingly, BlackRock received some pushback from the SEC, but crucially the SEC issued guidance around what they have a problem with which has not led to a bunch of managers revising their filing and resubmitting.

Can crypto ETPs make a comeback?

Crypto ETPs are having a tough run of it. There is an oversupply of some products e.g. Bitcoin ETPs, flows are weak, the SEC is proving stubborn in their stance and the market is blighted with bad actors. So, not really that surprising to see 21Shares close a couple of funds this week. We are sure others will follow.

More regulatory reviews of index providers

A regulatory review of index providers by the U.S. SEC seems to have jumped the pond.
Now the IOSCO has launched a consultation looking into the relationship between European asset managers and index providers in an effort to uncover possible conflicts of interest.

The SEC to review revenue sharing in the U.S.

In the U.S., the Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division, SEC has launched an investigation on revenue sharing between ETF issuers and intermediaries. And a busy week of global ETF launches including the first spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs to launch in Australia.