Bitcoin ETFs do not currently exist in the U.S., but some experts believe if those products are approved, the largest cryptocurrency by market value could see a substantial price increase.
Some market observers speculate that bitcoin ETFs could drive the digital currency’s price as high as $35,000, well above the record high of around $20,000 last seen in December 2017.
“Michael Strutton, the CEO at IronWood, explained in a column that if an ETF is approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), anyone with a 401k, IRA, or an investment account with brokers like Fidelity and Ameriprise Financial can easily invest in the bitcoin market. Strutton noted that the result of a bitcoin ETF could be the price of BTC rising to at least $26,000 and below $44,000,” reports NewsBTC.com.
Waiting On Bitcoin ETFs
To this point, the SEC has not approved any of issuers’ efforts to launch bitcoin ETFs. Recently, the Winklevoss brothers, the brothers that are looking to introduce the first U.S. bitcoin exchange traded fund, the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust, were awarded a patent that some believe could help that ETF finally come to life.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office granted Winklevoss IP LLP a patent for exchange traded products (ETPs) earlier this month.
“If ETFs add 24 million US investors and the upward momentum adds 14 million from the rest of the world, then that adds $84 billion and $336 billion, respectively, to the market cap,” according to Ironwood’s Michael Strutton in a post on Medium. “Over the past six months, Bitcoin’s market cap has swung from $326 to $110 billion.”
At this writing Monday, bitcoin’s market value resided just below $108 billion.
Recently, ETF giant VanEck and FinTech firm SolidX filed plans with the SEC for the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust ETF (XBTC), a physically-backed bitcoin ETF. 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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