(The Tokenist) The Bitcoin ETF has been the fixation of the cryptocurrency industry for years. For a long time, it felt like it would never happen, though. After postponement after postponement, it seems that we are getting closer than most realize.
A Bitcoin ETF Is Looking Likely
During a recent CNBC interview, SEC Chair Jay Clayton said that progress has been made. When asked if an ETF index fund for Bitcoin was closer, he simply responded, “The short answer is yes.” This kind of a direct answer we seldom see from the SEC chair, and is a good indicator that positive progress is being made.
However, the agency’s focus has not changed much this year. There’s still two overarching concerns which need to be met for a Bitcoin ETF to be approved. Firstly, there must be a safe, transparent way to hold the funds. A trusted custodial service for the ETF is a must. Secondly, price manipulation on exchanges must be accounted for and mitigated best that it can. Frankly, there has been significant progress on both these fronts.
As Clayton said, ” “Now progress is being made, but people needed to answer those hard questions for us to be comfortable that this was the appropriate type of product.”
2020 May Be the Year
Although we likely can’t expect a Bitcoin ETF by year’s end, it does seem like we are getting closer. Hopefully by mid-2020, the long-awaited idea will finally become a reality.
In the meantime, we can likely expect the SEC to continue ‘cleaning up’ the cryptocurrency industry from frauds and scams.
