The Securities and Exchange Commission formally recognized a VanEck Bitcoin ETF proposal just two weeks ago, starting the countdown on its 45-day approval schedule.
But seeing a bitcoin ETF approved in the next 30 days is not so likely, according to Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF and mutual fund research at CFRA Research.
The SEC is more likely to extend its timeline, it told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday.
“We have several companies that have gone through the submission process or have previously submitted, but are waiting for more clarity,” Rosenbluth said. “The SEC is less likely to try to pick a winner, we believe, about who is first and is more likely to see them (if they approve any ETFs) to approve several bitcoin-related ETFs. We have several companies that have come in and we think we’ll probably see one next year or two, but we don’t have a firm period of time to know when the answer would be yes. “
Joining the list of possible bitcoin ETF issuers is grayscale. The investment firm said Monday it was “100% committed” to turning its Bitcoin Trust into grayscale into an ETF. VanEck, Fidelity and Valkyrie Digital Assets are some of the companies that have already submitted applications.
With so much discussion about bitcoin, some may wonder if it could work on ETFs, such as VanEck’s new Social Sentiment ETF (BUZZ) due to the popularity of digital currency, but the answer is no, says founder Jamie Wise of Buzz Indexes.
“There’s a lot of discussion around bitcoins and other assets and cryptocurrencies for buyers, but no, you shouldn’t expect to see any cryptocurrency on BUZZ,” he said in the same “ETF Edge” interview. “BUZZ is very clearly defined as the U.S. capitalization exposure of large capitalization by sentiment and would not hold bitcoins or other cryptographic assets.”
While you won’t find any cryptocurrency assets in BUZZ, VanEck’s models track and analyze sentiment around cryptocurrencies, “and we’ll see what happens in the future,” Wise said. “Maybe not to BUZZ. Maybe to something else.”
In other areas of the ETF market, there is still a push to incorporate exposure to cryptography despite regulatory limits.
Art Amador, co-founder and chief operating officer of EquBot and man behind the ETF (Artificial Intelligence Powered ETF), said that while its fund cannot invest in bitcoins, it is important to enter the ecosystem cryptographic.
AIEQ does this through small-cap names, such as Silvergate Capital, which provides cash management services to digital currency companies, and Marathon Digital Holdings, a cryptocurrency mining company.
“We want investors to have exposure,” Amador said in the same “ETF Edge” interview. “That said, we also see a lot of regulatory winds, not only during the rush, but also globally.”
However, it expects to increase the ecosystem as headwinds decrease.
According to CoinMetrics, the price of bitcoin rose nearly 1.5% on Monday.
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