After refusing, delaying or ignoring dozens of applications in the past four years, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has now approved the first Bitcoin ETF.
A Bitcoin futures ETF is coming
ProShares has an amended application on Friday submitted. This means it has received approval for its Bitcoin Strategy ETF to launch on Monday. The company’s ETF is tied to Bitcoin futures contracts rather than directly to Bitcoin’s current price. Still, its adoption is still a great milestone for the crypto industry.
ETFs are investment products that track the price of stocks, commodities or other assets. They are also traded on public exchanges just like stocks. That means they can be bought and sold during regular market hours and easily incorporated into retirement and savings plans for people.
A ‘real’ Bitcoin ETF has yet to be approved
However, a “real” Bitcoin ETF will not yet be approved by the SEC. Partly because of this, companies started to transfer their ETF request to a futures ETF request. This came after SEC chairman Gary Gensler suggested that such futures ETFs be approved more quickly.
Sharing intentions
On Thursday, the SEC shared its intentions on Twitter. The SEC Tweeted an Investor Bulletin on Bitcoin Futures Trading in a Tweet. This shows that the financial watchdog in America will finally approve the applications.
“Be sure to carefully weigh the potential risks and rewards before investing in a fund that has Bitcoin futures contracts.”
Before investing in a fund that holds Bitcoin futures contracts, make sure you carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits.
Check out our Investor Bulletin to learn more: https://t.co/AZbrkpfn8F
— SEC Investor Ed (@SEC_Investor_Ed) October 14, 2021
