Institutional investors are flocking to Bitcoin in large numbers.

The interest in approving an ETF based on the Bitcoin spot market, buying actual coins, was reignited two weeks ago after BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, submitted an application.

Hopes were revived despite the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) rejecting similar requests 33 times in a row. The size and credibility of BlackRock make it difficult, although not impossible, for the ETF to not pass through the SEC.

It is worth noting that spot Bitcoin ETFs already exist in countries such as Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, and Dubai. However, the most significant market by far is the American market, which since October 2021 has started offering ETFs based on Bitcoin futures contracts. The first company to receive the green light was ProShares, followed by others.

The difference is that futures-based funds are not required to hold a single Satoshi. In contrast, spot ETFs are obligated to have direct exposure to actual Bitcoin. They must hold Bitcoin as a hedge in their portfolio and increase their inventory as interested investors buy their shares.

Investors, seeing favorable prospects, rushed to buy Bitcoin, resulting in a price increase of nearly 25%. However, the BlackRock application was not the only bullish sign. Immediately afterwards, the next day, Bitwise and Invesco (the fourth-largest ETF provider in the U.S.), in collaboration with Galaxy Digital, submitted a renewed application for the same type of ETF. These are applications that had previously been rejected by the SEC. A few days later, WisdomTree, which already has a spot Bitcoin ETF on the Swiss stock exchange since 2019, followed suit!