Holding bitcoin has been an enriching experience for thousands of investors; unfortunately, not everyone has had easy access to the digital currency. While almost any U.S. investor can go out and open a Coinbase account to trade bitcoin, not everyone is comfortable doing so. Others may be restricted to buying and selling securities in their traditional brokerage accounts for various reasons.
That’s where a bitcoin ETF would come in handy. Unfortunately, no such bitcoin ETF exists in the U.S. Could that change?
Saga Started 8 Years Ago
It’s been eight years since Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss submitted the first filing for a bitcoin ETF, the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. But the proposed fund was twice rejected by the Securities and Exchange Commission amid concerns about the risky nature of the nascent cryptocurrency market.
The ETF, which would have traded under the ticker symbol “COIN” (now claimed by crypto platform Coinbase), may be history, but the dream of a U.S.-listed bitcoin ETF never died.
For, in all those years since the Winklevoss filing, investors have been hoping for and anticipating a bitcoin ETF. There is still no guarantee one will actually get approved, but expectations for a successful launch have arguably never been higher.
Why The Time Is Right
There are a few reasons for that. One, the cryptocurrency ecosystem has matured a lot in the past few years. As of this writing, bitcoin has a market capitalization of more than $1.1 trillion; bitcoin futures have traded on the CME for over three years; and many reputable platforms, like PayPal and Fidelity, offer bitcoin trading and/or custody services.
Two, there have been a number of successful bitcoin ETF launches around the world—including Canada—suggesting that regulators may be coming around to the idea that cryptocurrencies are an investable asset class.
Third—and perhaps most importantly as it relates to a U.S.-listed bitcoin ETF—Gary Gensler, the new SEC chairman, is seemingly much more supportive of cryptocurrencies than his predecessor. Up until his nomination to be SEC chairman, Gensler taught classes on blockchain and cryptocurrencies at MIT.
Additionally, in 2019, he wrote that he was “intrigued by Satoshi’s innovation’s potential to spur change—either directly or indirectly as a catalyst.”
While that might not be an outright endorsement of bitcoin, it’s an open-mindedness that many believe will spur Gensler’s SEC to finally give the green light to a bitcoin ETF.
First To Launch
If that happens, the commission will have plenty of products to choose from. There are currently 12 active bitcoin ETF filings in the pipeline.
Any one of those products could potentially be the first to market, or as some have speculated, multiple products could be approved at the same time. There is also the multibillion-dollar Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) waiting in the wings, a quasi-closed-end fund, whose issuer says it will convert to an ETF once it is allowed to do so.
See the table below for the current list of bitcoin ETF filings, which will be updated as new products enter the pipeline. The SEC is required to issue a formal approval or denial within 180 days of the initial filing, but can extend that timeline by an additional 60 days at its discretion.
| Fund | Issuer | Filing Date | SEC Filing | Status |
| VanEck Commodities & Bitcoin Strategy ETF | VanEck | 1/18/2022 | Link | Effective 4/3/2022* |
| VanEck Gold & Bitcoin Strategy ETF | VanEck | 12/17/2021 | Link | Effective 3/2/2022* |
| Global X Blockchain & Bitcoin Strategy ETF | Global X | 8/19/2021 | Link | Launched 11/16/2021 |
| Blockfi NB Bitcoin ETF | BlockFi | 11/9/2021 | Link | No rulemaking action as of 12/2/2021 |
| AXS Bitcoin Strategy ETF | AXS Investments | 10/27/2021 | Link | Effective 1/10/2022* |
| Grayscale Bitcoin Trust | Grayscale | 10/19/2021 | Link | Initial decision due 2/6/2022 |
| Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust | Bitwise | 10/14/2021 | Link | Comment period ended 11/24/2021 |
| BlockFi Bitcoin Strategy ETF | BlockFi | 10/8/2021 | Link | Effective 12/22/2021* |
| Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | Invesco Capital Management | 9/21/2021 | Link | No rulemaking action as of 12/2/2021 |
| Valkyrie XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund | Valkyrie Funds | 9/2/2021 | Link | Final decision due 12/8/2021 |
| Ark 21Shares Bitcoin Futures Strategy | 21Shares | 10/13/2021 | Link | Effective 12/27/2021* |
| Bitwise Bitcoin Strategy ETF | Bitwise | 9/14/2021 | Link | Effective 12/22/2021* |
| AdvisorShares Managed Bitcoin ETF | AdvisorShares | 8/20/2021 | Link | Effective 11/3/2021* |
| Galaxy Bitcoin Strategy ETF | Galaxy Digital | 8/18/2021 | Link | Effective 10/31/2021* |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF | Valkyrie Funds | 8/11/2021 | Link | Launched 10/22/2021 |
| Bitcoin Strategy ETF | VanEck | 8/9/2021 | Link | Launched 11/15/2021 |
| ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF | ProShares Advisors | 8/4/2021 | Link | Launched 10/19/2021 |
| Invesco Bitcoin Strategy ETF | Invesco Capital Management | 8/4/2021 | Link | Withdrawn |
| Global X Bitcoin Trust | Global X Digital Assets | 7/21/2021 | Link | Comment period closes 12/23/2021 |
| ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF | 21Shares | 6/28/2021 | Link | Comment period closes 12/13/2021 |
| One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust | One River Digital Asset Management | 5/24/2021 | Link | Collecting comments until 1/25/2022 |
| Teucrium Bitcoin Futures Fund | Teucrium Trading | 5/20/2021 | Link | Final decision due by 4/8/2022 |
| Galaxy Bitcoin ETF | Galaxy Digital Capital Management | 4/12/2021 | Link | No rulemaking action as of 12/2/2021 |
| Kryptoin Bitcoin ETF Trust | Kryptoin Investment Advisors | 4/9/2021 | Link | Rejected on 12/22/2021 |
| Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust | FD Funds Management | 3/24/2021 | Link | Final decision due by 1/22/2022 |
| First Trust SkyBridge Bitcoin ETF Trust | First Trust Advisors | 3/19/2021 | Link | Rejected on 1/20/2022 |
| WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust | WisdomTree Digital Commodity Services | 3/11/2021
12/8/2021 |
Link | Rejected on 12/2/2021, WisdomTree filed an amended S-1 on 12/8/2021 |
| NYDIG Bitcoin ETF | NYDIG Asset Management | 2/16/2021 | Link | Final decision due by 3/16/2022 |
| Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund | Valkyrie Digital Assets | 1/22/2021 | Link | Rejected on 12/22/2021 |
| VanEck Bitcoin Trust | VanEck Digital Assets | 12/30/2020 | Link | Rejected on 11/9/2021 |
*Funds with an asterisk in their status are futures-based bitcoin ETFs and are assumed to be preapproved for launch 75 days after filing under the 2019 ETF Rule.
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