US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) receives Form 211 from Bitwise Asset Management (BAM) – an entity conducting business of managing crypto assets. If FINRA decides to give permission then BAM will be able to offer its shares to be traded publicly through OTC and within subordinate markets.
BAM confirmed on 2nd February, 2021 that it had filed Form 211 before FINRA seeking approval to enlist shares to be traded publicly. It was informed by BAM that the stocks (relating to its 10 Crypto Index Fund) will be offered for public trading on an OTC basis. However, in order to complete this objective, BAM would need to obtain prior approval of FINRA, which is pending for consideration.
As per BAM, the approval will be finalized soon enabling BAM to make available its Bitcoin Fund for seeking quotations from the public. It was also told that initially the Bitcoin Fund will be launched for trading purposes at OTCQX Best Market. However, the asset manager so far hasn’t provided any specific ticker to its Bitcoin Fund. Teddy Fusaro, BAM’s president, announced that BAM was managing Bitcoin Fund for three years and it is time to send the fund public.
Fusaro stated that BAM along with its team are excited about making the fund public, in particular offering it at OTXQX. He said that the fund is cost-effective as well as convenient and provides secured investment opportunities to investors.
Clearly, BAM will enter into competition with the world’s largest crypto asset manager i.e. Grayscale which is in the field since 2013. Grayscale too has a fund called Large Digital Cap Fund which is somewhat similar to that of BAM’s 10 Crypto Index Fund. For the time being Grayscale has been single-handedly dominating the asset management field within the crypto community. Grayscale’s Bitcoin Fund is currently the largest Bitcoin Fund in the world followed by its Ethereum Fund.
On the other hand BAM was founded in the year 2017 which makes it comparatively young in the field against Grayscale.
Both asset management companies have recently suspended their funds wherein they were handling XRP – Ripple’s native coin. The decision of BAM and Grayscale when US’s Securities & Exchange Commission lodged a litigation claim against Ripple and its upper management. In the suit, the Regulator has raised allegations against Ripple that it offered its “securities” in the US market without registration. Meanwhile, it was claimed by Ripple that XRP isn’t a security but rather a digital asset.
The dispute is currently pending before a US Court and recently a second suit has also been filed by an XRP investor. In the later suit, the investor has claimed that he had invested in XRP on the presumption that it was cryptocurrency and not securities.
