Speculation that US regulators are about to approve the first bitcoin spot ETFs has seen the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies rise to a one-year high.

On June 15, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, applied to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Bitcoin spot ETF.

Although the SEC has repeatedly rejected such applications on the grounds that there is too much risk of fraud and market manipulation and has made no statement regarding the latest application, bitcoin’s price has risen by 22%, reaching US$30,600.

To date, the SEC has only ever approved cryptocurrency futures and not spot contracts which take place on unregulated markets.

In addition to the BlackRock application, Invesco, WisdomTree, Bitwise and Valkyrie have all resubmitted applications for a spot bitcoin ETF in recent weeks.  

BlackRock has attempted to assuage the SEC’s fears of fraud by entering into a “surveillance sharing agreement” with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures markets.

And WisdomTree has adopted a similar strategy, stating that it is willing to also enter a surveillance agreement with the operator of a US-based spot trading platform for Bitcoin.

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