Bitcoin ETFs: What to Expect on Day One

A decade after they were first proposed, spot bitcoin ETFs are finally launching in the U.S. Here's what's next.

Spot bitcoin ETFs were finally approved in the U.S. after a tough decade of trying. The next step: Getting them trading Thursday morning.


Following the Securities and Exchange Commission's green light Wednesday afternoon, the hotly anticipated products will debut on U.S. markets run by the NYSE, Cboe Global Markets and Nasdaq, aided by major trading firms who plan to provide liquidity.

The buying and selling could technically start as early as 4 a.m. ET (09:00 UTC) since that's when U.S. stock exchanges open – not at the famous daily opening ceremonies held 5 ½ hours later.

The products will let virtually any retail customer gain exposure to bitcoin's (BTC) price using their conventional brokerage apps and accounts, as well as let traditional financial institutions invest without needing to go through crypto exchanges.
These ETFs give investors interested in digital assets more choices, said Cynthia Lo Bessette, head of digital asset management at Fidelity, one of the bitcoin ETF issuers. The latest products are different from the ones approved in 2021 in the U.S., bitcoin futures ETFs, which invest in derivatives, not the digital asset itself.

"We've long believed a spot-priced exchange traded-product would be an efficient way for investors to gain exposure to bitcoin," she said. "As a firm, we remain committed to meeting the growing demand from investors by providing them with tools that support their choices and facilitate secure access to markets."

Similarly, a spokesperson for Cboe Global Markets said the ETFs would give investors "a transparent and regulated" way to track bitcoin's price. "The approval signifies a major step forward in establishing crypto as a tradeable asset class, paving the way for new trading opportunities."

Liquidity pools
With 11 spot bitcoin ETFs funds being offered – some of which have already lined up billions of dollars of assets going into the launch – liquidity providers and market makers spent the past months preparing for this day, making sure that the bitcoin market is – and stays – efficient with the new wave of interest coming in on Thursday.

Bitcoin's spot market, bitcoin's futures markets and the bitcoin futures ETFs will all aid the spot ETFs' liquidity on day one, said NYSE Head of Exchange Traded Products Douglas Yones. NYSE also has a number of liquidity programs, he said.

"For market makers that are out there – and we've got dozens of market makers that provide liquidity for our ETFs that are going to step in – they've had natural hedges available to them," he said. "We have a very nice price-discovery process that will happen at the New York Stock Exchange overnight all the way into the open, so we expect a pretty dynamic and liquid market tomorrow."