By
Steve Muchoki
April 25th, 2024
The rumors of a delay in the approval process of the Bitcoin futures product can end up bad for the Bitcoin price, as investors were keen on buying BTC, expecting an ETF approval in October.
The much-awaited Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded funds (ETF) will be delayed, says the senior director of ETF and Mutual Fund Research at Research firm Combined Finance and Revenue Accounts (CFRA).
In an interview on CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on 12th October, Rosenbluth said that due to the current clouded regulatory situation, there could be possible delays in the approval of the first crypto Exchange-Traded Fund- the Bitcoin Futures product.
At present, there are over twenty crypto tokens and asset-based exchange-traded products eyeing to get a nod from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval, while the regulators have still not approved a single Futures product.
According to the claim, regulators are delaying the process to allow all the products to achieve their goals so that each one of them is approved simultaneously. This is done to stay away from the debacle of “first-mover advantage”. It might take a year for the regulatory ecosystem to become clear and peachy.
VanEck Associates Chief Executive Officer, Jan Van Eck stated that the most vital concern at present for the Securities and Exchange Commission is the inconsistency between real Bitcoin prices and the rate of the futures contract. The other problem is the likelihood of the prospective funds increasing massively. According to VanEck, futures plans can flounder by as low as 20% a year. He also added that the SEC is looking for some clarity and vigil authority in the Bitcoin markets.
While this is true, VanEck said that the regulators have to assert more authority and control in the crypto market. The recent warnings against Coinbase and the exchange’s stablecoin lending product are an example of regulators’ newly adopted strict approach for the market. Some of the other platforms like Robinhood are officially sanctioned as broker-dealers.
The rumors of a delay in the approval process of the Bitcoin futures product can end up bad for the Bitcoin price, as investors were keen on buying BTC, expecting an ETF approval in October. The asset has skyrocketed by 37.5% in a matter of 15 days to summit at the local top of $58,000 on 12th October, however, the incoming regulatory delay could settle market momentum at present.
Eric Balchunas, who works at Bloomberg as a senior ETF analyst, claims that there is still a concrete possibility of 75% that an ETF will be approved this month itself.