Jacobi Receives Bitcoin ETF Approval in Guernsey

On Oct. 15, 2021, Jacobi Asset Management, a London-based multi-asset investment platform, received approval from the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) to launch a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETF).

Jacobi AM, launched by former Goldman Sachs investment manager Jamie Khurshid in May this year, said the ETF would be a centrally cleared crypto-backed financial instrument, with custody provided by Fidelity Digital Assets.

The founder and CEO of Jacobi, Jamie Khurshid, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, talked about the development and said: “We are excited to be launching a new secure, transparent, and accessible product to track the performance of Bitcoin. We are a de-risking investment in crypto by removing the technology risk associated with the physical asset and counterparty risk associated with traditional funds or tracker products that are unregulated leverage debt instruments”.

The approval from GFSC allows investors to trade Jacobi Bitcoin ETFs on traditional stock markets across “all jurisdictions outside of America and others with similar restrictions.”

Later on, the chairman of Jacobi AM quoted,” The Jacobi Bitcoin ETF will finally bring digital assets wholly into the mainstream investment infrastructure with the support of the leading firms we are working with. In addition, it will provide investors with the opportunity to participate directly in physically-settled bitcoin.”

Traders celebrate Bitcoin’s impending ETF, but options markets are less specific.

On Oct. 18, 2021, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, is expected to rule whether to approve an asset manager ProShare Capital Management application for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Two weeks ago, it would have been a daunting task to find an investor willing to bet on a $70,000 **Bitcoin (BTC)** price for Oct. 29. A 62% upside was needed from the $43,100 price on Sep. 30, and this seemed far-fetched at that time. Therefore, the OIn addition, ct. $70,000 BTC call (buy) options traded on Sep. 30 at Deribit for $194, or 0.0045 BTC.

Traders should not take options probabilities literally

Options pricing is heavily dependent on how distant the expiry date is. Considering Bitcoin’s 4% daily volatility, anything can happen ahead of the Oct. 29 options expiry. Therefore, traders should not fixate too much on options implied probability (delta).

To better assess the odds of Bitcoin’s ETF approval by the end of the month, one should use the $50,000 delta as the ‘base’ scenario. Traders should assume that a 17% price drop would definitively signal that the decision by the U.S. SEC was either delayed or rejected.

Considering that the $50,000 call option is trading at an 84% delta, or implied probability, investors are pricing a 16% odds for a doomsday scenario.

Crypto finserv firm Bakkt to soon trade publicly on New York Stock Exchange

On the other hand, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has taken a proactive approach to allow ETF offerings on traditional exchanges. Crypto financial services company Bakkt will become the latest company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “BKKT.”

The public listing for Bakkt comes from a merger with VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings, a Chicago-based special purpose acquisition company. Additionally, Bakkt announced a partnership with Google to allow the purchase of goods and services using Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies via the Google Pay platform. According to Gavin Michael, the CEO of Bakkt, it “is a testament to Bakkt’s strong position in the digital asset marketplace, to empower consumers to enjoy their digital assets in a real-time, secure, reliable manner.”

Earlier in March, Bakkt launched a payments app that allows users to make purchases via cryptocurrencies, before which the exchange offered BTC futures contracts exclusively to accredited investors. Coinbase was the first company to list its shares publicly.

ProShares Bitcoin ETF to debut on NYSE

The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked exchange-traded fund in the United States, ProShares’ Bitcoin Strategy ETF, will begin trading on the New York **Stock Exchange** on Tuesday under the ticker BITO.

ProShares CEO Michael Sapir said the launch marks an essential milestone for cryptocurrency ETFs in the U.S. following several years of effort to list one on an exchange: “BITO will continue the legacy of ETFs that provide investors convenient, liquid access to an asset class. 1993 is remembered for the first equity ETF, 2002 for the first bond ETF, and 2004 for the first gold ETF. 2021 will be remembered for the first cryptocurrency-linked ETF.”

On Friday, the news comes shortly after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accepted the registration request for ProShares’ Bitcoin ETF. On the same day, the SEC also received an additional registration request for shares of Valkyrie’s #Bitcoin ETF strategy for listing on Nasdaq.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas predicted that Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) futures-based ETF is “likely” to launch in the coming days after being certified for listing on the Nasdaq exchange last week.

Here is the list of upcoming EFTs given by Bloomberg: