Cryptocurrency: US SEC likely to allow Bitcoin futures ETF to begin trading next week

Bitcoin (Image: Shutterstock)

The United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is likely to allow the first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) to begin trading next week, sources told Bloomberg.

The move comes after close to a decade-long push from the $6.7 trillion ETF industry and could be a “watershed moment” for cryptocurrencies, the report added. Sources also said the SEC was not “likely to block the products from starting trade next week”.

Moneycontrol could not independently verify the report.

Notably, the SEC has previously blocked Bitcoin ETF applications. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said the current proposals from ProShares and Invesco are futures contracts based and filed under mutual fund (MF) rules which “provide significant investor protections”, the report added.

The SEC and ProShares did not respond to Bloomberg’s queries.

Bitcoin is around $58,800 (above Rs 45 lakh) – its highest since May and holds market dominance of 45.86 percent. The first Bitcoin ETF was filed in 2013 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, of Facebook founders’ fame.

Since then, “false signs of progress and outright rejections” due to “investor hazards, threat from hackers and drastic price swings” have caused a setback to the ETF industry’s push for introducing crypto in the sector.

The report noted that many were happy when Gensler assumed post as he previously expressed interest in crypto. The “mood” the report said, shifted in August when the SEC chief said he would “favour funds based on CME-traded Bitcoin futures filed under a 1940s law”.