Investment manager Fidelity has raised $ 102 million for its bitcoin fund since its launch in August 2020, new reporting to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shows. Since then, 83 investors have joined the fund.
Origin Bitcoin Index Fund I is a passively managed fund that qualified investors can access through the Fidelity Digital Funds division. According to the latest figures, Fidelity has become one of the largest in its category. Previously, only Pantera, Galaxy and NYDIG reported raising more than $ 100 million for bitcoin-based funds. Launched in collaboration with NYDIG, Morgan Stanley’s fund raised $ 29.4 million in the first two weeks of its existence, reports published in April said.
At the same time, Fidelity is trying to open a more accessible fund in ETF format and has filed a corresponding application with the SEC. Yesterday, the regulator began to consider it together with the application from SkyBridge. There are currently six Bitcoin ETF applications pending with the SEC. The department must make the initial decision within 45 days, but it can also extend the time, up to a maximum of 240 days.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, meanwhile, re-announced that he would like to involve Congress in regulating cryptocurrencies. He noted that the scale of this space does not allow the SEC to adequately protect consumers – with thousands of projects, the regulator took only 75 enforcement actions. According to him, it is necessary to start regulation of cryptocurrencies from trading platforms. At the same time, Gensler requested additional funding, as the SEC now spends 16% of its budget on new technologies, but still has fewer resources than the firms it regulates.