Money managers in the ETF industry are working on a bitcoin ETF, and the upcoming batch of cryptocurrency-related funds will likely track bitcoin futures.
Cboe Global markets, an exchange operator competing with CME Group to introduce bitcoin futures, recently announced its intent to offer contracts based on Gemini bitcoin market data by the end of this year or early next year, but the exchange is still waiting on approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, reports Brian Louis for Bloomberg.
Once the exchanges get a green light on bitcoin futures, some anticipate a futures-backed bitcoin ETF is not far in the future.
“With regulated futures of a certain asset class like a bitcoin, you do have an opportunity to introduce ETFs and over time we do envision ETFs coming to market,” Chris Concannon, Cboe’s president, said in an earnings conference call Tuesday.
Last week, CME Group revealed plans t list bitcoin futures before the end of the year. Ed Tilly, Cboe’s chief executive officer and chairman, told Bloomberg that it’s “not surprising CME recognizes the same benefits of offering a transparent market.”