{"title": "BlackRock Updates Spot Bitcoin ETF Filing, Citing Additional Risks and Competition", "body": "According to Foresight News, investment management giant BlackRock has filed an amended version of its spot Bitcoin ETF S-1 application form. The updated filing includes five additional pages of text warning of additional risks the fund’s investors may face, including risks related to Bitcoin itself, which the company says lacks transparency and is unregulated.\n\nIn the filing dated October 18, BlackRock modified a risk disclosure related to how its share prices can be impacted by chaotic events in the crypto industry at large. The filing cited data from 2019 claiming that 80.95% of spot Bitcoin volume was false or noneconomic in nature, particularly that volume being traded outside of U.S. regulated venues. More recent analysis from Bitwise, a rival ETF applicant, suggests that fake volume as a share of total BTC volume is far less than it was four years ago, though it is still significant.\n\nBlackRock’s amendments acknowledge the fierce competition the company faces from other applicants, which may absorb market share from BlackRock’s own product. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, eleven different companies besides BlackRock are racing to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF as of October 17. The new applications also explain how BlackRock will calculate Bitcoin’s price, using an aggregate from several spot Bitcoin exchanges to form its benchmark."}