Easily one of the biggest stories in the cryptocurrency universe this year is the ongoing and still unrewarded effort to bring an ETF based on bitcoin to market in the U.S.
With less than three months left in 2018, it appears unlikely U.S. regulators will approve a bitcoin ETF this year, prompting some market observers to push bitcoin ETF predictions out to 2019. Some crypto market experts believe the wait will be even longer than that.
“Pantera Capital CEO Dan Morehead believes a Bitcoin-ETF approval is insignificant in comparison to Bakkt and Fidelity launching cryptocurrency trading platforms for institutional investors,” reports Bitcoinist.
Morehead is not expecting a bitcoin ETF to come to market anytime soon.
“When asked about whether the approval of a Bitcoin ETF and the belief that this would bring about a strong trend reversal held merit, Morehead said, ‘I think an ETF is years away,’” according to Bitcoinist.
Unfavorable Decisions for Bitcoin
Earlier this month, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set Friday, Oct. 26, 2018 as the deadline for public comments on nine applications from various issuers looking to launch bitcoin exchange traded funds.
Earlier this year, the SEC rejected the applications, preventing the digital currency from gaining more acceptance from investors who are wary of the unregulated exchanges of cryptocurrencies. The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets rejected applications from investment firms ProShares, Direxion and GraniteShares.
Related: AARP Takes Jabs at Bitcoin
“Regarding recent Bitcoin ETF postponements and rejections, Morehead suggested that it is much too early for market makers to seek approval for such an instrument as the cryptocurrency market is still in its infancy and that profit savvy investors ‘overreacted,’” according to Bitoinist.
In June, ETF issuer VanEck and SolidX, a fintech company engaged in the bitcoin ecosystem, revealed plans for the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust ETF (XBTC). That fund is targeted at institutional investors as it would debut with a share price of $200,000. That product would track an index linked to a group of bitcoin trading desks, possibly allaying some of the SEC’s prior concerns about funds linked to physical bitcoin.
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