BTC Investment Trust Inches Away from Becoming World’s First BTC Fund

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Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT) is all set to become the world’s first Bitcoin investment fund, the Wall Street Journal reports.

According to the available information, the Barry Silbert-led trust has gone through a smart route to obtain a regulator license for trading on an electronic platform, managed by OTC Markets Group Inc. The company reportedly exploited a rule that allows private fund holders to sell their shares after the lockup period of 12 months. This subsequently allowed them to make its long-held shares available to investors, which subsequently simplified their process to obtain approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) as well.

The step consecutively challenged Winklevoss Twins, whose Bitcoin Trust is still being reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for being approved for public listing. However in the past, both Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss have argued about Mr. Silbert’s fund, explaining how it will continue to stay unattractive to investors if it isn’t backed by the SEC.

Technically, the aforesaid claim is quite correct. BIT’s Bitcoin investment fund cannot be classified as an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). But once its shares are available publicly, it is very well poised to act like one — a proxy ETF you may say.

As of Sunday March 1, OTC Markets cited the BIT shares to its “pink sheets” website, under a temporary sticker symbol BTCV. Meanwhile, Silbert also assured to have received a permanent ticker symbol, GBTC, from FINRA, and is “expected to be effective shortly.” He also informed about their plans to obtain approvals for listing BIT’s shares on OTCQX, under the Alternative Reporting Standards. The latter is OTC’s top marketplace, having much higher standards than its pink sheets listings.

“Each share of BIT is worth approximately one-tenth of a bitcoin. As of Friday, the trust’s net asset value stood at $24.43 per share,” as per the WSJ.