Global X filed Wednesday for a bitcoin ETF that will trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange.

Global X, the New York-based ETF provider and subsidiary of $560 billion investment manager Mirae Asset, has filed with the SEC for permission to launch a bitcoin ETF titled the Global X Bitcoin Trust on the Cboe BZX Exchange. No ticker symbol was suggested, but this would be announced before the commencement of trading if the ETF wins the much sought-after approval from the SEC. (The Block)

Applicants in the queue before the SEC for a bitcoin ETF include Valkyrie Digital Assets, ARK Investments, Kryptoin, VanEck, Skybridge Capital, WisdomTree, and Fidelity.

The SEC has sat tight on all the applications and not approved any of them. At the time limit for review, it has chosen instead to extend the deadline in some cases. These include Skybridge Capital, VanEck, and WisdomTree.

Global X: The SEC’s hand-wringing on a BTC ETF decision

The lengthy time for decision reflects the SEC’s discomfort with a bitcoin ETF given the cryptocurrency’s high volatility, its speculative nature, and investors’ awareness of its potential risks and benefits.

On Wednesday, Securities and Exchange Commissioner (SEC) Hester Peirce supported a bitcoin ETF at “The B Word,” an online conference.

“We’re not a merit regulator so we shouldn’t be in the business of deciding whether something is good or bad, an investor is thinking of their entire portfolio and sometimes we’re thinking in one-off terms of a particular product standing on its own and we forget that people are building portfolios,” Peirce said.

Commenting on the contrasting situation with Canada, where several ETFs for different cryptocurrencies have been permitted and operating for months, Peirce said: “I would never have imagined that I would be in this situation where we would not yet have approved one and other countries are moving ahead.”

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