The United States asset manager with $1.6 billion assets under management, Invesco has reportedly withdrawn its Bitcoin futures ETF application filed before SEC, citing the rationales behind the decision.
Invesco’s global head of ETFs and indexed strategies, Anna Paglia noted that the main reason for the withdrawal of its Bitcoin Strategy ETF application was due to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) insistence to approve other ETFs aside from one Bitcoin ETF that are linked to futures.
The design philosophy of the said Bitcoin Strategy ETF was going to be a mix of futures swaps, physical Bitcoin, and private funds in the Bitcoin industry.
According to Paglia’s explanation in an interview Sunday with The Financial Times, the ETF would help protect investors when liquidity issue arises. “We thought that CME futures were going to be a very effective element of the portfolio. We never thought they would be effective when they would be 100% of the product.”
Paglia continued that “It was easier to say ‘yes’ and see how it goes than ‘no’ and explain the decision. We had to make this hard choice and own the decision. I would do the same again.”
Invesco is not alone in this withdrawal. Another asset management firm, Bitwise, has also dropped its application in early November, giving the same reason with SEC approving only Bitcoin futures.
Although firms like ProShares and Valkyrie have seen their Bitcoin application approved because it is futures-centric.
