A lot of debates have been ongoing about the Securities and Exchange Commission allowing a Bitcoin Exchange-traded fund (ETF).
There have been endless speculations as to whether or not the SEC would accept the proposal.
The First move to list what would be the shares of the first-ever bitcoin ETF was that motion filed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
The second attempt made by the twin brothers in June to get BATS BZX Exchange to list and trade the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust’s commodity-based shares was downvoted 3-1 by the SEC.
This caused a 3 per cent dip in the price of bitcoin leaving it at $7,880. The commission revealed that it did not support the Winklevoss’ argument that bitcoin markets are “uniquely resistant to manipulation”. However, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce has a different side to the story.
A Tiny Ray of Hope
Peirce who claims to be Pro Bitcoin disagreed with the SEC’s rejection of the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF. She claims that the decision “undermines investor protection.” She revealed that the dissent she published last week was because the SEC had an important part to play in letting the world that the US capital markets are open to innovation.
Peirce, who has been in the commissioner position for just six months also revealed that she is objective in her support of a Bitcoin ETF since she’s currently not a bitcoin ‘hodler’.
Less on ETF More on Adoption
However, despite the emphasis placed on cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds, Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin doesn’t buy the idea.
Buterin expressed his opinion on his Twitter handle. He said he believed that the current level of adoption is imbalanced, stating that there were lots of talks about investment and not enough usage.
Buterin feels that a lot of emphases has been placed on BTC/ETH/and ETFs, and not enough emphasis on making it easier for people to buy $5 to $100 worth of cryptocurrency through cards at corner stores or even window stores.
He claims ETFs are better for pumping prices while making it easier to purchase bitcoin is better for actual adoption.
Charlie Lee, Founder of Litecoin also believes that the widespread adoption will happen when cryptocurrency becomes more comfortable to use and purchase.
He hopes for a future where crypto would be used as payments without people even knowing that they are spending cryptos.
Other analysts believe that if the ETF was approved it would only drive up the price of Bitcoin in the short-term.
While there’s still hope that the SEC might approve the CBOE’s ETF on August 10th, there would likely be a short-term increase in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
This increase might likely be harmful to the crypto industry. Cryptocurrency investors would reinforce their beliefs that the cryptocurrency market is volatile and unsafe and this would affect adoption.
Conclusion
The SEC has received a total of five bitcoin ETFs. Not to be left out of the race, Asset manager, Bitwise also filed an ETF.
From the Winklevoss, founders of crypto exchange Gemini to VanEck and SolidX who had their applications rejected, to the combined forces of VanEck and SolidX coming together to file another version in June for an ETF to be called VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Shares which is currently under review, a lot of persons remain optimistic. While some wait for the approval so Bitcoin can moon, others hope for an adoption phase where cryptocurrency becomes accessible.
All in all, there is little or nothing to be scared of as far as cryptocurrency ETF is concerned. What is essential is grass root adoption of crypto, sensitization of people on why crypto is this century change we all have been expecting.
