WisdomTree Amends Bitcoin ETF Application, Appoints Bank of America as Custodian

New York-based asset management firm WisdomTree has amended its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) to name Bank of America as its custodian.

In a Wednesday filing, WisdomTree named the National Association of American Banks as the custodian of its bitcoin trust fund shares. The filing is an amendment to its March 11 registration application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of Bank of America’s offering of cryptocurrency custody services to institutional investors.

On December 2, the U.S. SEC rejected a rule modification proposal proposed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange BZX Exchange to allow WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust Fund shares to be listed and traded. It’s unclear whether the recent revisions were intended to reset the timing of new spot bitcoin ETF applications, as WisdomTree waited 265 days from the time it first filed its application to being rejected by the U.S. SEC. In May, WisdomTree separately submitted an ETF application for the Ethereum Trust Fund to the US SEC, which is still under review.

WisdomTree, which manages more than $76 billion in assets, also launches four cryptocurrency indices in the U.S. and Europe to provide investors with diversified portfolio exposure. Additionally, the firm already has exchange-traded products that hold exposure to a basket of cryptocurrencies on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam.

U.S. regulators have yet to approve a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund. However, the U.S. SEC has approved products related to cryptocurrency futures, including investment management firm ProShares and Valkyrie’s BTC futures ETF. Other U.S. firms, including Fidelity, have successfully applied to Canadian regulators for ETFs that hold direct exposure to cryptocurrencies.

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