© Reuters.
Investing.com – In further evidence that approval of spot ETFs in the United States is imminent, BlackRock (NYSE:) has revised its proposal to make it easier for banks to participate.
The new “prepay” in-kind redemption model will allow banking giants such as JPMorgan (NYSE:) or Goldman Sachs (NYSE:) to act as authorized participants for the fund – allowing them to bypass regulatory restrictions which prevent them from holding cryptocurrencies directly on their balance sheets.
Approval of this measure would therefore increase the chances of a massive influx of capital into the Bitcoin market from institutional players.
In more detail, it involves transferring the cash to a broker, who then converts it into bitcoins before they are stored by the ETF’s custody provider, Coinbase (NASDAQ:) Custody in the case from BlackRock.
In its filing with the SEC, BlackRock further claims that the new model also offers “improved resistance to market manipulation”, which is also a positive factor for approval, given that the main argument that the SEC has previously put forward to reject spot Bitcoin ETFs is the “risk of market manipulation”.
Additionally, BlackRock claims that this new structure will improve investor protection, reduce transaction costs, and increase “simplicity and harmonization” across the entire Bitcoin ETF ecosystem.
Finally, remember that the SEC must make a decision on BlackRock’s request by January 15, with the final deadline scheduled for March 15. However, leading ETF analysts predict that the SEC will issue a decision on several pending Bitcoin ETF applications between January 5 and 10, which could ensure an explosive start to 2024 for Bitcoin and cryptos in general.