Fidelity plans to buy out Grayscale or apply for a spot Bitcoin-ETF

Fidelity, the world's third-largest asset manager with $4.24 trillion in assets, is considering either a buyout of Grayscale or an application for a spot Bitcoin-ETF. We recently wrote that BlackRock already filed for a Bitcoin-ETF a few days ago.

The decision is now up to the U.S. SEC. It's unclear what the regulator will do this time. The SEC has yet to approve a Bitcoin-ETF, despite numerous implications. For example, Katie Wood's ARK Invest and a European investment firm 21Shares previously urged SEC to approve the Bitcoin-ETF, having filed their applications in April. The world's first Bitcoin ETF was the Canadian Purpose Bitcoin ETF, launched in early 2021.

Now it will all depend on what the regulator decides. For now, the SEC is focused on lawsuits against the Binance and Coinbase exchanges. Therefore, we will have to wait a long time for a response from the regulator. In addition, the head of the SEC wants to fire the congressmen. There is a chance that the applications will be approved. If Blackrock and Fidelity's spot ETF applications are approved, it will have far-reaching implications for the entire cryptocurrency market. It would mean massive adoption of digital assets by large companies.

Also, the introduction of ETFs has the potential to positively impact the value of Bitcoin. There was a similar story after several new gold ETFs were launched.

Grayscale remarkably manages 17 cryptocurrency trusts consisting of single- and multi-asset funds. The largest in terms of assets under management (AUM) is the $16.5 billion Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

An interesting fact is that Fidelity Investments received a letter a few months ago from U.S. lawmakers concerned about the aftermath of the FTX collapse. Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Tina Smith of Minnesota and Richard Durbin of Illinois signed a letter urging Fidelity to cool down its stance towards Bitcoin and other modern concepts such as Metaverse, where it planned to obtain exposure via a portfolio of the stocks of participating companies.