The SEC and Bitcoin (BTC) have been the topic of several conversations in recent years, and the most recent evidence shows that this will continue in 2022 as we grow ever closer to the inevitable shift to Web 3.0. As such, the frequency of 13F filings mentioning Bitcoin by quarter drastically increased this year, while it reduced somewhat to 60 mentions in the second and third quarters of 2021. The number of times the SEC cited the flagship cryptocurrency in its filings for the fourth quarter that concluded at the end of January 2022 climbed by 158% to 155 mentions, which was a direct consequence of the increasing level of Bitcoin&39s increasing mainstream relevance, usage and global popularity. Growing interest in institutional assets It&39s worth noting that SEC filings can help determine institutional interest in crypto assets. Investment funds with a minimum of $100 million in AUM (Assets Under Management) which operate and conduct business within the U.S, for example, are obliged to make a 13F filing with the SEC every quarter, disclosing the holdings of each individual fund to the public. Furthermore, it is not essential to publish all of a fund&39s assets as instead a subset of those investments inclusive of any and all positions in spot BTC must be reported. In contrast, trusts and various other crypto-based investment institutions were frequently referenced. Increase in exposure to Bitcoin GBTC (Grayscale&39s Bitcoin Trust) is the largest BTC trust by net asset value and it has become a popular method for institutions to gain exposure to the world&rsquos largest cryptocurrency asset by market capitalization . With that being said, GBTC&39s BTC holdings increased dramatically between 2020 and 2021, paralleling the increase in the amount of investment funds which included BTC as part of their respective 13F filings during that particular time period. GBTC holdings had in fact stagnated until late 2021, when 13F filings mentioning Bitcoin increased. Nevertheless, this represented the debut of Bitcoin ETFs like the ProShares&39 Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) and Valkyrie&39s Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) last year which are now disclosed on 13F filings and account for a portion of the growth in specific organizations. As a result, examining public SEC filings may be beneficial in gauging the growing presence of Bitcoin in the U.S economy, as well as help determine which direction the SEC and the United States government might take going forward. The rise of NFTs and the metaverse have also necessitated the need for increased regulation as DeFi is indeed here to stay.
