Bitcoin ETFs Approved While Buffet Buys More Oil

Investing

Published: January 11, 2024 7:40 am

As Bitcoin believers hoped, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday approved 11 applications from firms seeking to issue spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Everybody’s happy, especially Bitcoin miners and one Bitcoin exchange.

Not one to follow the herd, Warren Buffett added more than 6% to his holding in a Permian Basin oil driller.

SEC gives in

It is an understatement to say that SEC Chair Gary Gensler was disappointed at having to approve 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs. Here are some of his comments:

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Commission failed to adequately explain its reasoning in disapproving the listing and trading of Grayscale’s proposed ETP (the Grayscale Order). The court therefore vacated the Grayscale Order and remanded the matter to the Commission. Based on these circumstances and those discussed more fully in the approval order, I feel the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot bitcoin ETP shares. …

Importantly, today’s Commission action is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin. It should in no way signal the Commission’s willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities. …

While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.

Here is a list of the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs approved by the SEC. Some have already begun trading, and more will begin when markets open officially on Thursday morning.

Blackrock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: IBIT)
ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB)
WisdomTree Bitcoin Fund (BTCW)
Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF (BTCO)
Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB)
VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL)
Franklin Bitcoin ETF (EZBC)
Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust (NYSEAMERICAN: FBTC)
Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund (NYSEAMERICAN: BRRR)
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (NYSEAMERICAN: GBTC)
Hashdex Bitcoin ETF (NYSEAMERICAN: DEFI)

Blackrock’s IBIT traded up by about 25% Thursday morning and Grayscale’s GTBC traded up more than 3%. Crypto exchange and custody account holder for several of the ETFs, Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN), traded up more than 5% in Thursday’s premarket session.

Bitcoin futures traded up 2.7% at more than $47,000 early Thursday morning.

Other winners included several Bitcoin-mining companies:

Hut 8 Corp. (NASDAQ: HUT) up 8.5%
Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF) up 8.3%
Hive Digital Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: HIVE) up 8.2%
Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA) up 5.8%

Buffett eschews Bitcoin, buys more oil

*Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum this week.*

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE: BRK-B) increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY) earlier this week. Berkshire now owns 34% of Oxy, up from its 27.7% holding at the end of December.

Occidental stock traded up about 1.7% in Thursday’s premarket session, and Berkshire Hathaway traded up about 0.1%.

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