Cboe seeks the green light to become the first US Bitcoin ETF

Cboe seeks the green light to become the first US Bitcoin ETF - Cboe Global MarketsCboe Global Markets Inc. is seeking approval to list and trade shares for what may be the first publicly traded Bitcoin fund in the United States.

Last Monday, CBOE filed a report for the go-ahead for the VanEck Bitcoin Trust to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. VanEck Associates Corp. in December asked to launch an ETF that tracks the largest cryptocurrency in the world. It is at least the third time since 2018 that Cboe has collaborated with VanEck to seek fund approval.

The first BTC ETF has already started in Canada

Last month, Canadian securities regulators cleared the launch of the Purpose Bitcoin ETF, making it the first to gain regulatory approval in North America. Cboe said in its report that the cryptocurrency ecosystem has "progressed significantly", citing products that invest in Bitcoin futures and the emergence of regulated custody services for digital assets, among other things.

US regulators have so far refrained from approving a Bitcoin ETF, citing concerns about everything from market volatility to industry manipulation to thin liquidity. This includes a previous Cboe attempt that was withdrawn in January 2019.

However, the cryptocurrency market has gotten stronger in recent times as big names and big institutional players have recently come together in their BTC investments.

Additionally, President Joe Biden's nominee to head the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, is seen as potentially "more sympathetic" to cryptocurrencies than previous officials had been.

"This time around we are much more optimistic than we have been in the past," Laura Morrison, global director of directories at CBOE, said in an interview. “The market has really changed. There is a huge amount of information relating to depth and breadth ”.

The advantages that a Bitcoin ETF would offer

CBOE was the first US regulated exchange to offer Bitcoin futures in December 2017. The exchange stopped listing the contracts in June 2019.

A regulated product listed on a regulated exchange would allow for an improvement in prices, and the ETF would be less expensive than competing products in the market, plus trading relatively close to its net asset value, Morrison said.

He said Purpose ETF's debut in Canada shows there is demand for such products. “We are really excited to be the first repository in this wave,” Morrison said.

However, knowing the SEC, it is by no means certain that this time Cboe will succeed in its enterprise. We will find out only by living and in case updates arrive, we will let you know as always before everyone else.

In the meantime, the quotation Bitcoin continues to rise and some analysts think its value could reach unexplored peaks until now. Will Bitcoin really become a currency like the US dollar and the euro are today, or will this bubble sooner or later burst? Let us know in the comments below.