Highly anticipated US Bitcoin ETF likely to launch in October, Bloomberg analysts predict

Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, internal analysts at Bloomberg ETFs, released an investor note on Tuesday predicting that an approval of the Bitcoin ETF is likely to come in October.

They suggest that the recent withdrawal of Ethereum futures ETFs by ProShares and VanEck could be an indicator that things are starting to move quickly at the SEC. ETF experts hope that regulators will approve multiple ETFs at once so as not to give any of the funds an unfair advantage over others.

“The rapid withdrawal of VanEck and ProShares from the proposals for Ethereum futures ETFs bodes well for a potential Bitcoin futures ETF, given that the SEC has allowed applicants to remain active. A launch could come as early as October, and we believe the SEC should allow several at a time to avoid spreading the advantage of being the first to act, ”analysts said.

This is renewed hope for investors who have long been demanding an SEC-approved exchange-traded fund in the United States. The SEC has been withholding its approval for a long time, even to the disappointment of some of its members. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, who has long been a staunch advocate for cryptocurrencies, has repeatedly pointed out that a Bitcoin ETF was overdue in the US.

Since last year, Peirce, who the crypto community also affectionately calls "Crypto Mom," has denounced the situation in which the SEC put US investors with investments in cryptocurrencies. She acknowledges that there is a void that only the SEC can fill by allowing Bitcoin funds to be traded on regulated markets. The commissioner considers the commission's reluctance to approve a crypto ETF as unfair to the industry.

She feels that the fact that the SEC does not provide a "Safe Harbor" for investors and innovators in the cryptocurrency industry could alienate the industry from the United States. This would be a situation of losses for the country, since the income generated by the industry will also accompany it.

She recapitulated this stance on several occasions and criticized the regulation for the enforcement method that the commission currently adopts to regulate the crypto industry, in the absence of clear regulatory frameworks.

On the other side of the story is SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, who was expected to bring a favorable change to the commission's stance on cryptocurrencies. So far, that has not materialized to the disappointment of the industry. Gensler has gotten into the bad books of most key community players with his stance that the SEC needs more powers to regulate the cryptocurrency industry for better consumer protection.

While it strongly believes that the industry needs "rules of the road" to truly reach its full potential, the commission has not been as helpful in providing such rules. His lack of response to a question that was asked about whether or not Ethereum was a security is very revealing of this. Attorney Jeremy Hogan, who is an ardent follower of the proceedings of the SEC's lawsuit against Ripple, requested a direct response to the question in a tweet to clarify the uncertainty, but has not received a response from the SEC chairman.

Such situations are at the heart of the issues crypto advocates have with the SEC. The community wants the SEC to clearly explain which cryptocurrencies it considers securities and which it does not. The billionaire CEO of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks expressed the sentiment in his response to Gensler's recent tweet about the commission's stance on cryptocurrencies and consumer protection.

"How about the lines are clear and bright so people know what the rules are?" he asked, adding that the community was eager to abide by the rules, but none were present or clearly defined.

In general, the community has its fingers crossed to see how things will play out in October or earlier.