Nothing new. Big firms have been applying for bitcoin ETF's for years now...and getting rejected time after time.  Yes, blackrock is almost the Gov (they ran the bond buying program during the pandemic, etc) and definitely has an inside track. But I think they just did it so they could tell their clients "at least we tried."  Crypto and the potential disintermediation of the financial sector is the single biggest threat to many of the most powerful people in the world and threatens the power of the FED via monetary policy.  They smile and talk nice about it...but it's an enemy to them.  They would have killed it in the cradle if they had any idea...but they completely underestimated it and now they are trying to figure out how to kill it without violating the constitution...and pissing off the electorate that doesn't understand the ultimate power of dollar hegemony.