An exchange traded product filed with the SEC by the Winklevoss twins that would give investors access to the Bitcoin market probably won’t see the light of day due to operational hurdles, according to a report Tuesday.
It’s unlikely the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust will launch because the authorized participants and market makers that support ETFs would have a tough time profiting from differences in the underlying asset and the share price, the Financial Times reports.
“Bitcoin itself is not even a developed market, let alone to build an ETF on top of it,” said Reginald Browne, managing director at Knight Capital Group, a key ETF liquidity provider, in the article.
An unnamed source in the story said the fund has yet to recruit authorized participants, or APs.
However, the chances of the Bitcoin ETF launching appear to depend largely on the SEC and the future of the Bitcoin market itself. [Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF: Crazy, or Crazy Like a Fox?]
“The vision of the exchange traded product is to create a simple solution to the problem of buying Bitcoins if you don’t want to purchase and store them,” said Tyler Winklevoss in a recent interview. “We want to bring Bitcoins to a broader group of investors that before couldn’t get easy exposure to the asset.” [Tom Lydon’s Take on the Bitcoin ETF]
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