SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products in US Markets

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products in January 2024, allowing investors to access Bitcoin through stock exchanges.

A spot Bitcoin ETF or ETP holds actual Bitcoin and issues shares representing an economic interest in those holdings. For example, BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF, IBIT, is designed to track Bitcoin's price using the CME CF Bitcoin Reference Rate. As of August 17, 2026, IBIT held around 747,000 BTC worth roughly $47.8 billion and had approximately $46.90 billion in net assets.

Investors buy and sell IBIT shares on Nasdaq just as they would trade shares of a listed company. The ETF's value is primarily determined by the Bitcoin it holds, while institutional firms known as authorized participants can create or redeem large blocks of ETF shares, helping keep the ETF's market price close to its underlying net asset value.

Initially, US spot crypto ETPs operated using cash-based creations and redemptions. In July 2025, the SEC permitted in-kind creations and redemptions, allowing eligible participants to exchange crypto assets directly in the creation and redemption process, which could reduce transaction costs and price slippage.

Buying a Bitcoin ETF is different from buying BTC on a crypto exchange. With direct ownership, investors control Bitcoin through a wallet and potentially their own private keys. With an ETF, the fund and its designated custodian handle the underlying assets, while investors own ETF shares, removing the need to manage seed phrases or hardware wallets.