Invesco abandons its BTC Futures ETF, plans for spot BTC ETF

The company’s futures-backed Bitcoin ETF was largely tipped to get SEC approval following a nod for the ProShares product

Invesco, a major investment management company with a presence in 20 countries, has chosen to halt its interest in launching a Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).

According to a Bloomberg report, Invesco is no longer pursuing approval for its ETF from the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), with the company instead looking to file for a new product backed by actual BTC.

The firm’s about-turn comes at a time the investment community is gearing up for the debut of the ProShares Bitcoin Futures ETF, the first derivative contracts-backed ETF in the US to hit the trading market.

The newly approved fund is set to go live on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today, Tuesday 19 October.

Invesco turns attention to a physically-settled Bitcoin ETF

Atlanta-based Invesco has not revealed the details that led to the withdrawal, only saying through a company spokesperson that a new direction has been settled upon regarding ETFs.

As part of its immediate plans, Invesco will continue to work with Mike Novogratz’ Galaxy Digital. The two firms recently struck a partnership allowing the investment management provider to offer various Bitcoin-related products to the growing crypto investor community.

“We will continue to work in partnership with Galaxy Digital to offer investors full shelf of products with exposure to this transformative asset class, including pursuing a physically-backed, digital asset ETF,” the spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Invesco’s plans to file for a spot Bitcoin ETF come barely days after leading crypto asset management firm Grayscale hinted at a similar move. As reported on Monday, Grayscale is hoping for the SEC’s approval to modify the pioneering Bitcoin (BTC) Trust fund into a Bitcoin spot ETF.

Interest in and excitement around ETFs has contributed to the surge in Bitcoin price over the past week. As of writing, BTC is trading around $62,190. According to data from CoinGecko, intraday action has seen BTC/USD shed some of the gains registered as the pair hit $63,432.04, its highest price level in over six months.

The all-time high for Bitcoin is $64,805, recorded on 14 April 2021.

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