Just two weeks ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission formally approved a bitcoin ETF proposal from VanEck, which began counting down its 45-day approval timeline.
However, according to Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETFs and mutual fund research at CFRA Research, it is not as likely that a bitcoin ETF will be approved in the next 30 days.
The SEC is more likely to extend its timeline, he told CNBC’s ETF Edge on Monday.
“We have a number of companies that have gone through the filing process or submitted before, but are waiting for more clarity,” Rosenbluth said. “The SEC is less likely to try to pick a winner, we’re thinking of who comes first, and we’ll probably see them – if they approve any ETF – approve multiple bitcoin-related ETFs. We have a number of companies that entered, and we think we’ll probably see one in the next year or two, but we do not have a fixed time frame for when the answer will be yes. ‘
Grayscale joins the roster of prospective bitcoin ETF issuers. The investment firm said Monday it is 100% committed to turning its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF. VanEck, Fidelity and Valkyrie Digital Assets are among the companies that have already submitted applications.
With so much discussion around bitcoin, some may wonder if it can be processed into ETFs like VanEck’s new Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) due to the popularity of the digital currency, but the answer is no, says Jamie Wise, founder of Buzz Indexes.
“There’s an awful lot of discussion around bitcoin and other crypto assets and tokens for buyers, but no, you should not expect to see any crypto in BUZZ,” he said in the same ‘ETF Edge’ interview. “BUZZ is very clearly defined as US capital exposure by great sentiment and does not hold bitcoin or other crypto-assets.”
Although you will not find any crypto-assets in BUZZ, monitor and analyze VanEck’s sentiment sentiment around cryptocurrencies, “and we will see what happens in the future,” Wise said. “Maybe not in BUZZ. Maybe in something else.”
In other areas of the ETF market, there is still a push to take up crypto exposure despite regulatory constraints.
Art Amador, co-founder and chief operating officer of EquBot and the man behind the ETF (Artificial Intelligence Powered ETF), said that although his fund cannot invest in bitcoin, it is important to get into the crypto ecosystem.
AIEQ does this through small names such as Silvergate Capital, which provides cash management services to digital currency companies, and Marathon Digital Holdings, a cryptocurrency mining company.
“We want investors to have exposure,” Amador said in the same “ETF Edge” interview. “That said, we also see a lot of regulatory headwinds, not just during rush hour, but worldwide as well.”
Nevertheless, he expects the ecosystem to increase further as the wind decreases.
The price of bitcoin climbed by almost 1.5% on Monday, according to CoinMetrics.
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