Many people still don’t think a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is possible in 2020.
An ETF Probably Still Won’t Happen, Survey Takers Say
The subject of a bitcoin-based ETF has been the cause of much controversy in the United States. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been wary of such products and has commented that it doesn’t want to approve one until it has clear and direct evidence that the crypto industry is no longer subject to volatility and the same market manipulation tactics it’s been facing for the past several years.
It’s unclear when – or even if – this will ever happen, but along the way, many companies have sought to change the SEC’s mind. Companies like VanEck, for example, initially submitted a proposal for a bitcoin-based ETF back in March of 2017. The venture received an almost automatic rejection letter, and it took two more attempts on VanEck’s part before it finally got the SEC’s attention.
The agency took notice of the proposal and published the company’s application for public comment from experts, many of whom reacted very positively towards the firm’s ideas. Sadly, this didn’t sway the SEC all that much considering it continued to implement hardcore delays that ultimately lasted more than a year.
Eventually, VanEck lost its stamina and became very impatient with the way the SEC was behaving. It eventually decided to pull the plug on its own proposal, which went kaput in late 2019.
Other companies, such as Bitwise, were later considered the final hope for getting a bitcoin ETF approved, but the SEC was quick to burn down whatever attempts were made. The SEC has mentioned that it doesn’t feel it can guarantee the same safety with a bitcoin ETF that it can with other exchange-traded products given that crypto is too vulnerable to massive price swings.
And it appears this sentiment is weighing down hard on many of the enthusiasts and individuals looking to trade crypto. A new survey shows that several people don’t think 2020 will make any difference when it comes to getting an ETF approved, and that this year will be a simple repeat of 2018 and 2019.
We Can’t Make Guarantees About Safety
In a letter, the SEC explains:
Without data to show the lead-lag relationship between prices on the two sets of platforms or any evidence about the directionality of the lead-lag relationship – which might indicate that changes in prices on platforms with fake volume are or are not leading to changes in prices on the ‘real’ platforms – the Commission has no basis on which to conclude that prices on the ‘real’ platforms are insulated from prices in the rest of the market.
Of the 106 individuals participating in the survey, a whopping 77 percent said “no” when asked if an ETF will pass in 2020.