SEC Make Big ETF Announcement

In some very exciting developments for the cryptocurrency space, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has eventually made the decision to approve two applications for Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds. Plans will go ahead next month with two Bitcoin ETFs being launched by Bitwise Asset Management and the VanEck project.

It's probably worth saying Happy April Fools Day!

Yeah... sorry about that. Unfortunately, the US SEC hasn't given the go-ahead for two ETF applications, in fact, they haven’t even approved one as of yet but it is on the Commission's list of things to do over this next year.

Fun fact though, we aren’t the only news source to attempt to catch out the reader today as so have Finance Magnates going on to say that not only did the SEC approve two ETF applications but that the price of Bitcoin rose up past the $6,000 mark over the weekend too.

With all these jokes and laughs in mind, it's got me thinking about what we actually know so far about the Bitcoin ETF. It's been a long and winding road with a lot of bumps in the way, but sometime this year we might see something more about the ETFs.

Is approval around the corner?

The Bitcoin ETF is all but here at the moment but hopes are still high that it is on the way for some time in 2019, and if everything goes to plan then it will also help boost the price of Bitcoin which will help it reach the highs that it reached back in December of 2017.

An interesting story that came out earlier in the year was that of a solicitation notice that was issued by the SEC. with institutional finances getting ready to flood into the market and save cryptocurrency, the chairman of the SEC, Jay Clayton has spoken out about the lack of surveillance as well as an instance fraud at the Consensus Invest Conference. On top of this, Clayton spoke on how he isn’t prepared for the occurrence of a Bitcoin ETF approval this year.

“It’s an issue (manipulation) that needs to be addressed before I would be comfortable. We’ve seen some thefts around digital assets that make you scratch your head. We care that the assets underlying that ETF has good custody and that they’re not going to disappear.”

Earlier in the year, a solicitation notice was issued with the hopes that cable companies would provide viewable data of the most common blockchains in a sense that there isn’t any “there is no loss in data completeness and accuracy due to the data transformation tools and processes applied.”

The US SEC said that potential firms will aim to:

“Provide blockchain data to support the SEC’s efforts to monitor risk, improve compliance, and inform Commission policy with respect to digital assets. The SEC is seeking information for potential sources to support the goal of acquiring data for the most widely used blockchain ledgers, including the universe of available information and transaction details.”

It seemed to be just like a coincidence that this very notice came in when the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) made cryptocurrencies the top of their list for assets to make sure they look deeper into the emerging asset class over this next year.

A report published by the OCIE said: “will continue with their mandate, complementing and advising the SEC in their effort to protect the American people.”