As Bitcoin nears $60K and looks to scaling its previous all time high, members of the community are hopeful for a US Bitcoin ETF approval.
Bitcoin is fast approaching the $60K price level, even as investors anticipate the first US BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF). On a six-month high, the popular crypto incurred a little retracement on Thursday but recovered to rise 4% to $59,664. Currently, Bitcoin’s all-time high is $64,895 from back in April.
In addition, the US securities and exchange commission (SEC) looks set to permit into operational existence the first Bitcoin futures ETF. In fact, crypto investors long anticipated the arrival of the country’s first Bitcoin ETF. Furthermore, it is believed that the recent Bitcoin recent rally climbing towards $60K was deliberately engineered to expedite the ETF process. According to Bloomberg News, the US ETF will start trading from next week. However, the Commission issued a strong cautionary note to prospective investors, given BTC’s volatile nature. The statement read:
“Before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits.”
According to Ben Caselin, head of research and strategy at crypto exchange AAX, Bitcoin’s $59K-surge was the result of work put in. Caselin suggested that long-term investors had been consciously accumulating it, and this development was far from arbitrary. Furthermore, he asserted that the fourth quarter “will see significant progress around a bitcoin ETF in the US.”
Bitcoin’s $60K Surge Reflective of Crypto’s Short-Term Success As ETF-Hopefuls Look to Capitalize
There is no shortage of applications for Bitcoin ETFs in the US, giving the SEC a considerable number to sift through. Several fund managers, including the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, ProShares, Invesco, Valkyrie, and Galaxy Digital Funds, are prospective ETF applicants. In addition, it is worth noting that the proposals by ProShares and Invesco Ltd were for futures contracts (as opposed to BTC ETFs). Furthermore, both companies made the filings under mutual fund rules which the SEC says provide “significant investor protections.”
The fund launch shapes up to be the culmination of near-ten-year advocacy efforts by the ETF industry – a $6.7 trillion playing field. This is since Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, co-founders of the Gemini exchange, first applied for a Bitcoin ETF in 2013, an application rejected almost four years later in 2017. Advocates long sought approval as confirmation of crypto mainstream acceptance.
As a side note, crypto ETFs already launched this year in neighboring Canada. There are also crypto ETFs in Europe.
With regard to effective regulation, the general consensus is that the crypto space is still walking a tightrope. For instance, SEC Chair Gary Gensler previously intimated that the crypto market has several tokens as unregistered securities. By his reasoning, this leaves price open to manipulation and renders millions of investors vulnerable to risks. Gensler also argues that BTC liquidity might be insufficient, and its highly volatile nature may overwhelm individual investors. For example, the token’s last three full-year returns were a 74% loss accompanied by gains of 95% and 305%. Finally, the Commission Chair pointed to ownership validation issues and threats from hackers.
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