Valkyrie files for spot bitcoin ETF joining BlackRock, others

Fund shops big and small are lining up to offer a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund, and another one just joined.

Driving the news: Valkyrie filed for its own Bitcoin Fund on Wednesday, joining BlackRock, Bitwise Asset Management, WisdomTree and Invesco.

Zoom in: The Nashville-based investment firm is the smallest shop of the bunch, with just two exchange-traded funds, and roughly $36 million in assets under management between them — all the more reason to jump at the chance to launch the holy grail of them all: A bitcoin spot ETF.

The big picture: Being the first to market in the ETF world helps gain those initial dollars and the various fund shops that have followed BlackRock's example underscores that reality.

Flashback: Valkyrie was among the early fund shops that launched an ETF offering exposure to bitcoin derivatives rather than the physical spot.

• The Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF came with a catchy ticker "BTF."

Yes, but: BTF's flows were substantially smaller, and now has just about $26 million in assets under management.

• The first to launch ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, also known as "BITO," has some $840 million in assets.

Of note: Valkyrie, unlike BlackRock, was previously denied by the SEC to offer a bitcoin spot ETF in Dec. 2021 and decided that it wasn't smart to sue.

• This is around the time when the SEC was rejecting applications left and right.

The bottom line: A spot bitcoin ETF will likely not get approved under this administration, but what the applications show is that no one wants to be left out on the off-chance it happens.