BlackRock investor scooped $100k in seed shares for spot BTC ETF

An unknown investor paid $100,000 in seed capital for shares in BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF, which was filed in June 2023 and preceded a wave of applications with the SEC.

This seed capital investor initiated the purchase on Oct. 27 and took delivery of 4,000 shares on the same day. Seed capital is the initial funding required to finance creation units underpinning an ETF. 

BlackRock offered each seed share at $25, the $10 trillion asset management heavyweight disclosed in a  Dec. 4 amendment to its S-1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Bitwise filed an updated prospectus for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF as crypto.news reported, although no mention was made of seed shares. This means BlackRock is likely the sole issuer that has received a batch of seed funding for now. 

The Wall Street titan was also negotiating with the SEC over redemption models for spot BTC ETFs, favoring an “in-kind structure” that Bloomberg experts surmised could benefit issuers and investors alike.

BlackRock filed for its iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBTC) in June 2023, making both crypto and mainstream headlines since the bid was for a product historically denied by the SEC. However, BlackRock’s largely successful record with the SEC bolstered hopes of a nod from the securities regulator this time.

A raft of applications also followed from issuers like Invesco, WisdomTree, Franklin Templeton, and Valkyrie. Pando recently joined the race as the 13th issuer following its late November filing. Experts predict a decision on these filings by January 2024.

Additionally, the appetite for a spot Bitcoin ETF galvanized interest in the same product for Ethereum (ETH), crypto’s second largest token and blockchain after BTC.