BlackRock Adds UBS and Citigroup and Goldman Sachs as APs for the Bitcoin ETF
The process of creating and redeeming the fund that provides liquidity in exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is within the purview of authorized participants.
Goldman Sachs, Citigroup, UBS, Citadel Securities, and ABN AMRO have been added by BlackRock to the list of approved participants for the iShares Bitcoin Trust. With their addition to Jane Street Capital, JPMorgan, Macquarie, and Virtu Americas, there are now nine APs in total. Several APs are often present in popular ETFs.
As the fund continues to draw billions of dollars from investors, BlackRock (BLK) has added five more authorized participants (APs) to the iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), increasing the total to nine.
According to a prospectus submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the new APs include clearing firm ABN AMRO and Wall Street banking behemoths Goldman Sachs, Citadel Securities, Citigroup, and UBS. They join Virtu Americas, JP Morgan, Masquarie, and Jane Street Capital.
CoinDesk revealed in January that Goldman Sachs was in discussions with issuers to become an AP and was hoping to take a major role in the bitcoin ETFs.APs are a crucial component of the ETF process since they adjust the share supply in response to shortages or surpluses, helping to generate liquidity.
Many APs are found in large ETFs, and IBIT has become rather large in less than three months of operation, managing around $18 billion in assets as of yesterday’s closing.
The involvement of Goldman Sachs is especially noteworthy because, as of this week, the bank’s chief investment officer for wealth management stated that cryptocurrency has “no value” and that it is not under any pressure to get involved in the market, despite the fact that other key players in the industry are making significant moves.
