Global X Withdraws Spot Bitcoin ETF Application

Exchange-traded fund provider Global X has withdrawn its application for a U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF.

A January 30th filing from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) revealed that Cboe BZX exchange filed a notice of the withdrawal on January 26th.

Global X, which first applied for a U.S. Bitcoin ETF in 2021, becomes the first firm to have abandoned its plans following the SEC’s approval of 11 applications earlier this month in a landmark action. Among the ETFs approved for trading in the U.S. are funds from BlackRock, Fidelity and WisdomTree.

In a post on Twitter, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart said that news of Global X’s withdrawal was “not surprising,” adding that, “we have known they were out of the race since at least early December.”

Following the approval of multiple Bitcoin ETFs, the price of Bitcoin plunged as investors in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) took advantage of the opportunity to cash out. Outflows from Grayscale appear to be slowing, however, according to digital asset manager CoinShares, while U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of over $5 billion since their launch on January 11th.

“The outflows in Grayscale last week totaled $2.2 billion, although data suggests outflows are beginning to subside as the daily total continued to reduce over the week,” the CoinShares report said.

BTC is currently trading at around $42,600, down 1.8% on the day but up over 6% on the week, per data from CoinGecko.

The U.S. Federal Reserve will announce the results of its first 2024 interest rate meeting later today. Bitcoin has started to see its price go up on expectations that Chairman Jerome Powell will announce that the Fed has decided to keep rates where they are and—investors hope—offer some hint that the FOMC will lower rates later this year.

That’s because, generally speaking, Bitcoin tends to gain some buoyancy when the Fed lowers rates.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.