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The long-awaited bitcoin (BTC) ETF could finally see the launch as early as next week, people familiar with the matter opine.
Bitcoin Futures ETF a Done Deal
According to a Bloomberg article published on October 14, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to allow the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund to begin trading.
Undoubtedly, the approval of the first bitcoin ETF is bound to be a watershed moment for the crypto industry as it will give the emerging asset class a seal of approval from the US financial watchdog.
Per sources close to the matter, the regulator is not likely to block the approval of the of the product to trade from next week.
Notably, unlike bitcoin ETF applications that the regulator has previously infamously blocked on various occasions, the latest proposal by ProShares and Invesco Ltd. are based on BTC futures contracts and, as such, were filed under mutual fund rules that the current SEC chair, Gary Gensler had opined provide “significant investor protection.”
It is worthy of note that should the BTC ETF be approved, it would finally put an end to almost a decade long attempt by the crypto industry to get a crypto ETF running in the US and indicate cryptocurrencies’ mainstream approval among the sophisticated investors.
Most notably, the Winklevoss twins filed the application for the first bitcoin ETF long back in 2013 which was rejected by the SEC. Since then, a wide swathe of firms have applied for bitcoin ETFs including VanEck, Ark Investments, and others.
However, the vast majority of such ETF applications were based on spot BTC trading which did not appeal to the SEC.
Awaiting the Official Announcement
The price of bitcoin reacted positively to the possibility of a bitcoin ETF approval in the US.
BTC jumped from $57,305 to as high as $59,838 at press time, showing that investors are probably loading up on the premier cryptocurrency in the anticipation of the ETF approval.
However, it would be wise to await an official announcement before going on a BTC shopping spree. Especially when some market analysts still caution that an ETF might not be launched until 2022.