According to Jan Van Eck, CEO of VanEck, a Bitcoin-spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) for the US market appears to be a long way off despite the rising popularity and development of the cryptocurrency business. Van Eck gave a categorical assessment when speaking at the recent Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami Beach: “No chance.”
The present legal dispute between Grayscale Investments and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was the cause of the VanEck CEO’s scepticism. The goal of Grayscale is to make their Bitcoin trust become an ETF. Van Eck says that even if Grayscale prevails, the SEC’s propensity for delaying decisions might prevent the creation of a Bitcoin spot ETF for the foreseeable future. Even if the SEC loses the Grayscale case, he said, “they’ll simply take their time. I simply don’t see it happening in the next 18 months.
Van Eck also referred to the most recent applications made by rivals for funds based on Ethereum futures. Three of these have already been changed or withdrawn soon after being submitted. He remained certain that the SEC was using delay strategies, asserting, “They have so many regulatory tools.”
The creation of a Bitcoin ETF has long been a goal of the cryptocurrency sector, but the SEC has remained wary, mostly because of worries about market manipulation. Over the years, a number of issuers have developed spot products but encountered regulatory opposition.
Bitcoin futures funds have been trading since 2021 despite these hurdles. Concerns raised in advance of its launch have been substantially allayed by anticipated problems.
The VanEck Bitcoin Strategy ETF (ticker XBTF), based on Bitcoin futures, was introduced in 2021 by VanEck, a pioneer in the ETF industry. The SEC, however, rejected a VanEck proposal for an ETF that would store Bitcoins by the end of 2021.
