Institutional investors getting involved in the crypto industry could easily boost the crypto market. In fact, there are experts such as Tom Lee who suggests Bitcoin could still reach $22,000 this year. For those that are still bullish on the crypto industry, many of them are expecting institutional investors to participate in the crypto market this year.
And in the past months, many are speculating regarding the possibility of a Bitcoin ETF. Many have attempted to submit their own Bitcoin ETF application. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss attempted to submit their Bitcoin ETF application twice. And the most recent one was rejected because of the possibility of price manipulation. The same goes for nine other Bitcoin ETF applications that followed.
Crypto Mom
The good news for the crypto market is that there is an SEC commissioner that believes in cryptocurrencies. Dubbed by the market as “crypto mom”, Hester Pierce even made her letter of dissent regarding the ruling of the SEC on Bitcoin ETF applications.
In addition to this, the agency also stopped two crypto-related products in order to prevent confusion within the market that they are dealing with an ETF.
Formal Review
The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced on Thursday that it is already doing a formal review on the Bitcoin ETF proposal of Solid X and VanEck. According to the SEC website, the agency is now taking a closer look whether or not it is going to approve the fund.
The order mentioned that “Institution of such proceedings is appropriate at this time in view of the legal and policy issues raised by the proposed rule change. Institution of proceedings does not indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusion with respect to any of the issues involved”.
In August, the SEC already delayed the ruling on the Bitcoin ETF application submitted by SolidX and VanEck. There are already a number of analysts including that of Canaccord saying that the agency is going to postpone its ruling again on Bitcoin ETFs. And most likely, a Bitcoin ETF will be decided around March 2019.
What Makes VanEck and SolidX Bitcoin ETF Application Different?
So what exactly makes the VanEck- SolidX Bitcoin ETF application different? This particular Bitcoin ETF application is called “physical Bitcoin” instead of being called a futures contract. The fund is going to “maintain comprehensive insurance underwritten by various insurance carriers” to “protect investors against loss or theft of the Trust’s bitcoin”.
Seeking Public Opinion
The SEC also mentioned that it is seeking public opinion regarding the possibility of having a Bitcoin ETF. And so far, there were already 1400 letters about the subject.
Is this a good thing or a bad thing for the Bitcoin ETF? Is this something that is actually bound to happen? If you are going to ask someone like Andreas Antonopoulos, he believes that though it is a matter of time before we see a Bitcoin ETF, he thinks that this isn’t a good thing for the industry as a whole. He mentioned there are issues surrounding privacy and control compromises that have to be done with ETFs. To sum his concerns, “Your keys—your bitcoin; not your keys—not your Bitcoin”.
