VanEck teases 'Buy Bitcoin' in social media video amid new filing for spot ETF with SEC

Investment manager VanEck added further fuel to rabid speculation that the Securities and Exchange Commission could be heading closer toward finally approving a spot bitcoin ETF, posting a video on social media on Friday that teased the term "Born to Bitcoin BTC -0.93% ."  

The 19-second video came the same day that the asset manager filed an updated S-1 form with the SEC, as more than a dozen firms appear to be ironing out the final details of their applications with the regulator ahead of final decision deadlines next month. VanEck tipped its hat toward retail investors in a previous filing earlier this month for its proposed spot bitcoin ETF that said it would use the ticker "HODL," a common abbreviation in crypto circles for "hold on for dear life.

VanEck followed the Friday video, which briefly flashed a sign that said "Buy Bitcoin," with a post that said it wasn't an ad or commercial. 

'Teaser vid'

"It’s a teaser vid made by intern in 10 min," it wrote in a post on X. "We posted one last week as well."

Multiple firms including BlackRock, Fidelity, VanEck, Franklin Templeton and Valkyrie have been  vying for a spot bitcoin ETF. The SEC has not yet approved one but has recently met with representatives from different firms to discuss technical aspects of the fund proposals. 

In VanEck's latest filing for the proposed fund, the asset manager seemed to lean toward a so-called cash redemption model that  analysts have said the SEC seems to be favoring, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart wrote in a post on X. 

"VanEck also added the same (or at least very similar) risk disclosure language around the fact that SEC is not allowing In-Kind," he added.