Over the past decade, the SEC has rejected as many as 30 spot Bitcoin ETF applications from firms such as Gemini, Fidelity, and WisdomTree.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas believes that $30 trillion worth of capital could be made available to the Bitcoin market if a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) was approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). That is the estimated amount of assets managed by US financial advisers who would be willing to get exposure to the top cryptocurrency through a regulated ETF.
Speaking in an interview with Cointelegraph, the analyst stated that a spot Bitcoin ETF could serve as a bridge between the Bitcoin market and an impressive amount of capital. When asked why the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States would be a big deal, Balchunas stated that financial advisors and the older generation of investors prefer their investments delivered in ETF, a format that they are more familiar and comfortable with.
“ETF is the format in which the boomers and the financial advisors prefer their investments delivered in. And this matters because financial advisors manage about $30 trillion in assets,” he said.
A major talking point in some crypto investment circles, the spot Bitcoin ETF is yet to be approved by the SEC. In fact, over the past decade, the regulator has rejected as many as 30 spot Bitcoin ETF applications from firms such as Gemini, Fidelity, and WisdomTree.
However, Balchunas noted that the odds of approval in the next year have increased to about 50%. He attributed this to the recent filing by BlackRock, stating that the high-level assets manager – which has about $9 trillion in assets under management – is “very smart, and they don’t just throw filings out willy nilly […] They clearly see something out there that they think they can get through the regulators.”
Commenting on when we are next likely to hear from the SEC on a spot Bitcoin application, the analyst stated that it was possible the regulator would make announce its decision on the ARK Invest application – submitted two months before BlackRock’s application – in early January of next year. He added that more decisions would likely be made in March or April.
Balchunas also expressed confidence that spot Bitcoin ETFs, if approved, have the potential to “crush the futures ETFs and assets.” He added that he could see crypto ETFs ultimately reaching the same level as gold ETFs in a matter of years.
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