SEC Approves Valkyrie’s ’33 Act Bitcoin Futures ETF

Crypto-focused Valkyrie gets the green light after Teucrium’s ’33 Act approval.

Regulators have cleared the path for Valkyrie Investments Inc. to launch the second bitcoin futures ETF under the so-called '33 Act, a structural move that garnered speculation that a spot bitcoin ETF is on the table. 

In a filing Thursday afternoon, the SEC approved a rule change request that would allow the Valkyrie XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund to list, pending the standard regulatory process for filing and launching an ETF. 

Teucrium Trading LLC was the first to get SEC approval to use the ’33 Act structure, in early April. It has yet to launch the fund. 

The ’33 Act approvals are notable, as every spot bitcoin ETF filing that has been submitted and rejected in the U.S. has used that structure instead of the Investment Company Act of 1940, the more popular ETF filing structure that holds larger diversification and investor protection mandates.  

The ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO), the  Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) and theVanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (XBTF) all use the ’40 Act structure after regulators allowed those funds to launch last fall. 

Bill Cannon, Valkyrie’s head of ETF portfolio management, said in an interview that the firm intends to run the ’33 Act-structured fund alongside its existing ’40 Act fund. 

“We expect it to be the structure that will be used for the spot-based ETF,” he said. 

Contact Dan Mika at [email protected], and follow him on Twitter