Cryptocurrency experts are hoping a spot bitcoin ETF could arrive as soon as this year.
The optimism comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission approved the Teucrium Bitcoin Futures ETF application earlier this month. The fund is filed under the Securities Act of 1933, rather than the Investment Company Act of 1940, which other bitcoin futures funds prefer. Grayscale Bitcoin Futures ETF used.
“From the SEC’s perspective, there have been a number of protections that the 40 Act products have that 33 products do not have, but never have those protections addressed the SEC’s concerns about the bitcoin market.” fundamentals and the potential for fraud or manipulation,” Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein told CNBC’s “Edge ETF” last week.
“So the fact that they have now developed their mindset and approved the 33 Act product with Teucrium really invalidates that argument and talks about the connection between bitcoin futures and the exchange market. immediately the underlying bitcoin gives value to futures contracts.”
Some of the safeguards include an independent board of directors, accounting and custody rules, he added.
“In our view, really when and not if” there is a spot bitcoin ETF, Sonnenshein said. “If the SEC cannot look at two similar issues, futures ETFs and spot ETFs, through the same lens, it could, in fact, be grounds for violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.”
Grayscale is awaiting a response from the SEC in early July on its decision to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a bitcoin ETF. If they are denied, Sonnenshein has hinted at suing the company.
While Grayscale’s CEO is one of the SEC’s loudest critics, he’s not alone.
The SEC is protesting citing manipulation concerns, but their specific request is to demonstrate that regulated CME markets are of substantial size, Bitwise Asset Management’s Matt Hougan said in the same interview. .
Hougan, chief information officer of the company, said: “Bitcoin is now an institutional market. It’s a marketplace with institutional service providers, institutional investors, a futures contract market. vast and well-managed future”.
“We had a bitcoin futures ETF under Act 40. We got a bitcoin futures ETF under Act 33. The next step was what people really wanted, which was a spot bitcoin ETF with exposure. with bitcoin,” he said.
ETF Trends CEO Tom Lydon points out that an increasing number of financial advisors are interested in investing in a bitcoin ETF.
One Bitwise Trend Survey / ETF 2022 see that 82% advisors prefer a spot bitcoin ETF over a futures-based alternative. Lydon also said demand has also increased for bitcoin products that investors can buy on traditional brokerage platforms. Right now, there’s not much choice, so it won’t be out of date, he added.
The SEC declined to comment.
