BlackRock Received $100K Seed Funding for Spot Bitcoin ETF

BlackRock (BLK) revealed that it received $100,000 as “seed capital” for its proposed bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, the investment giant disclosed in a fresh application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The seed capital investor agreed to purchase $100,000 in shares on October 27, 2023, and on October 27, 2023 took delivery of 4,000 shares at a per-share price of $25.00 (the “seed shares”),” the filing said.

Seed capital represents the initial funding that allows an ETF to fund the creation units underlying the ETF so that shares can be offered and traded in the open market.

BlackRock’s proposed “iShares Bitcoin Trust” will invest in bitcoin rather than futures tied to the leading cryptocurrency and is one among the 13 applications awaiting regulatory approval.

The SEC is widely expected to greenlight one or more spot ETFs early next year, with Bloomberg analysts putting the probability of an approval in January at 90%.

CoinDesk reached out to BlackRock to confirm the identity of the seed capital investor and was awaiting response at press time.