BlackRock Injects $10 Million into Seed Fund in January, Analyst: Aligns with January Clearance Prediction

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BlackRock Injects $10 Million Seed Fund in January

Bloomberg analyst and ETF analyst James Seyffart cited documents indicating that BlackRock plans to inject a $10 million seed fund for the Bitcoin spot ETF with the ticker IBIT on January 3. While this does not signify an official launch, it may suggest that BlackRock expects to launch the ETF soon.

Additionally, this aligns with the predictions of him and another ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, that the Bitcoin spot ETF will receive SEC approval in January.

Eric Balchunas also tweeted in agreement, stating that BlackRock injected a $100,000 seed fund on October 10, and injecting $10 million in January will be a significant boost.

A "seed fund" refers to funds raised by the issuer before the ETF is officially listed, which will be used to purchase the index or assets tracked by the ETF to ensure sufficient liquidity at the ETF's listing and reduce the issuer's risk.

Before this — SEED MOVEMENTS DO NOT MEAN LAUNCH

Looking like BlackRock is *planning* to make moves on Jan 3rd. They're seeding the ETF with $10 million. But maybe means BlackRock would be expecting a launch to happen shortly after? pic.twitter.com/PknXs5B2TP

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 22, 2023

Publishers Frequently Revise Documents, SEC Requests Submission by Month-End

James Seyffart also mentioned that BlackRock and Hashdex have resubmitted revised documents, with Hashdex selecting BitGo as the custodian partner; BlackRock marked in the Authorized Participant, AP column that AP will not directly trade Bitcoin, but the collaborating partner has not been indicated yet.

In addition, FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett tweeted that she learned the SEC has requested all ETF issuers to submit revised documents by the end of next week, including updates from yesterday's conference call.

Eleanor Terrett had revealed yesterday that the SEC is holding a rare joint conference call with potential Bitcoin spot ETF applicants, where one participant noted that the main purpose of the call is for the SEC to ensure all parties are using the cash creation model and to request all publishers to remove any implications related to physical redemption from their application documents.

I'm told the @SECGov has asked issuers to submit their amended filings with updates from yesterday's calls by the end of next week, so not sure this will happen but would be an interesting strategy. https://t.co/oYIVPbD5pM

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) December 22, 2023