Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Futures ETF Gets SEC Approval, Following Teucrium Nod

The approval came as the firm used a different exchange act application, which also helped Teucrium get the green light for a similar product.

By Michael Bellusci, Nikhilesh De

May 5, 2022 at 4:24 p.m. UTC

Updated May 5, 2022 at 5:57 p.m. UTC

Valkyrie's XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund has won approval from the SEC (Getty Images) — Valkyrie's XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund has won approval from the SEC. (Getty Images)

Michael Bellusci

Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.

Follow @mikeybellusci on Twitter

Nikhilesh De

Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk's managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.

Follow @nikhileshde on Twitter

Valkyrie's XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund is the latest crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) to win approval from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Valkyrie filed its application using the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, filing a 19b-4 form with the SEC. Most of the previously approved bitcoin futures ETFs filed by other companies were under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which follows a slightly different regulatory pathway to approval. Valkyrie is the second ETF to win approval with the older law, following Teucrium. Both companies also filed under the so-called “33 Act.”

The firm now offers investors the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF), which mainly invests in bitcoin futures contracts. Additionally, the Valkyrie Bitcoin Trust (VBTC) is available only to accredited investors and invests in bitcoin.

In a filing dated Thursday, the SEC said it sees it as “unlikely that trading in the proposed ETP would be the predominant influence on prices in the CME bitcoin futures market."

In the Teucrium order, the SEC said that the Chicago Mercantile Exchange bitcoin futures market has sufficiently developed to support exchange-traded products seeking exposure to bitcoin by holding CME bitcoin futures contracts.

Spot bitcoin ETF applications are uniformly filed under the “33 Act,” and have been dismissed without exception by the SEC as being too risky for investors for various reasons. The approval of what is now two 33 Act bitcoin futures ETFs will raise industry hopes that a spot bitcoin ETF approval isn’t far behind.

UPDATE (May 5, 17:17 UTC): Updates to include Valkyrie's other bitcoin products.

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