Pando has named the Bank of New York Mellon as the official administrator of the ETF.
Swiss asset management company Pando Asset has joined the race for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States.
On November 29, the company filed with the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), becoming the 13th financial services firm to submit an application with the agency for a BTC trust without directly investing in the crypto asset.
Pando Names Coinbase as Custodian for Its Spot Bitcoin ETF
Like many spot Bitcoin ETFs filled with the SEC, the company’s proposed trust, the Pando Asset Spot Bitcoin Trust, seeks to mirror the price performance of BTC, bringing the virtual assets directly to the traditional financial ecosystem without directly getting involved in the crypto space.
If approved, the trust will consist primarily of BTC held by a custodian, and for that, the company has chosen Coinbase to serve as the custodian of the upcoming product offering.
Additionally, Pando has named the Bank of New York Mellon as the official administrator of the ETF.
The trust would be available upon approval by the SEC on the US stock exchange Cboe BZX Exchange, where it would be listed immediately after successful registration.
While waiting for the SEC’s decision on its application, the company already offers crypto-related exchange-traded products (ETPs) in Europe. Last year, Pando listed its first digital asset, ETP, on the SIX Swiss Exchange at $19.73 in July. One month later, the Pando Asset crypto 6 ETP rose to $21.66, indicating a 9.78% increase compared to the issue price.
SEC Continues to Hesitate on Spot Bitcoin ETF Approvals
Meanwhile, while the industry eagerly awaits the potential approval of spot BTC Traded ETFs in the United States, the SEC has yet to greenlight a single one, despite having given the nod to futures BTC trusts in the past.
The financial watchdog has recently opted to defer decisions on 12 applications from industry behemoths such as BlackRock, Fidelity, 21Shares & Ark Invest, Bitwise, VanEck, Wisdomtree, Invesco, Valkyrie, Global X, Hashdex, and Franklin Templeton.
In a recent development on Tuesday, the regulator shifted applications from Franklin Templeton and Hashdex into a public comment period. The move has raised speculation among market observers that the commission might be hastening the review process.
On the same day, the SEC held discussions with representatives from Invesco and BlackRock, according to a document published on the agency’s website.
In a presentation attached to the documents, BlackRock revealed insights from a meeting with Trading & Markets staff on November 20. According to the presentation, the SEC has lingering concerns regarding the In-kind model, particularly regarding balance sheet impacts and risks to the Market Maker’s US Registered Broker/Dealer entity (“MM-BD”) during the redemption flow.
The presentation proposed an approach by BlackRock that would address these concerns.
In response to the proposal, Johnsson from Van Buren Capital on X, formerly Twitter, opined that BlackRock’s proposal should satisfy the SEC’s concern.
“If the only issue here is the balance sheet of the US BD market maker, then BlackRock’s proposal should satisfy that concern,” he said.
He further stated that the only difference with the prior in-kind model is creating a cash receivable from the offshore MM to the onshore MM and then transferring the cash directly so it sits onshore.
