Editor’s Note
On October 8, 2021, a Forkast.News article was published with the inaccurate SEO headline “Bitcoin Futures ETF Approved By SEC.” One of our readers rightfully identified this mistake. We have made the correction, and we apologize. Serving the community is our top priority, and Forkast.News would like to thank @scottmelker for bringing it to our attention.
While the crypto industry will have to keep holding its breath for a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund to be approved in the U.S., the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an ETF for companies holding large amounts of Bitcoin, called the “Volt Bitcoin Revolution ETF.”
Fast facts
- Managed by San Francisco-based Volt Equity, the fund will be the next best thing to a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. for the meantime, by offering exposure to companies that hold a significant amount of Bitcoin, such as software company MicroStrategy, the public company with the greatest holdings of Bitcoin in the world.
- Volt claims the fund will be less volatile than one based exclusively on Bitcoin would be, as a dip on the price of BTC would have a much smaller impact on the share price of the companies holding it, such as Tesla or PayPal, than on Bitcoin itself.
- The SEC has rejected applications for Bitcoin ETFs in the past, citing concerns the Bitcoin market could be open to manipulation, a risk that would be diluted through a Bitcoin portfolio ETF. Nonetheless, there is speculation in the industry that the SEC is moving closer to approving a Bitcoin ETF, a move that industry watcher Jeff Yew, CEO of Australia’s Monochrome, believes is a driver behind Bitcoin’s recent price tear over the past week.
- “There’s been speculation that the recent Bitcoin price growth is coming as a result of anticipation for a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund in the U.S.,” Yew told Forkast.News recently. “However, experts have suggested that the decision is likely to be made at the end of the year or in Q1 2022.”
- Bitcoin crossed the US$50K mark earlier this week for the first time since the September selloff, gaining 34% since the start of the month to trade at US$55,176 at its height yesterday, though has since dipped slightly over the course of today, according to data from CoinMarketCap. It was trading at US$54,991 at press time.