Reports have surfaced that the “approval confidence” is “high’” for the highly anticipated Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded-fund (ETF). The reports, although uncorroborated, note that “their sources at the CBOE” had “conversations” related to the meetings held between US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) commissioner Elad Roisman and the CBOE, VanEck, and SolidX on Tuesday October 9th.
The SEC commissioner is also reportedly the first US federal regulator to “publicly meet with representatives of the three groups.”
Going on to mention that the “bulk” of their report was prepared by @CryptoQF, a Twitter account that claims to be “managing client portfolios for 11+ years”, Abacus Journal wrote that VanEck, SolidX, and CBOE told Roisman that they had addressed “issues” the SEC had cited for not approving a Bitcoin ETF.
As noted by Abacus, the resolved issues are as follows:
- “There now exists a significant regulated derivatives market for bitcoin”,
- “Relevant markets – Cboe, bitcoin futures, OTC desks – are regulated”,
- “Concerns around price manipulation have been mitigated, consistent with approval of prior commodity-based ETPs”,
- “Cboe’s rules are designed to surveil for potential manipulation of Trust shares”,
- “Promotes investor protection.”
“Rumored” To Be Crypto-Friendly
Abacus then noted that Roisman is among the few American regulators, such as commissioner Hester Peirce, who is “rumored” to be “crypto-friendly.” Also, commissioner Kara Stein, who has voted “no” to crypto ETFs before, is expected to vacate her position in December.
Abacus further mentions that democrat Allison Lee is “rumored” to replace Stein and then claims: “The gap between Stein’s departure and Lee’s appointment could be a potential opening for the ETF approval.”
Proceeding to cite their “previous conversations” with their “source at the CBOE”, Abacus noted:
The VanEck ETF is perfectly approvable if you have been reading the tea leaves in the rejection language at the SEC connected to previous submissions.
The “conversations” also reportedly led to:
[The VanEck ETF] checks every box, as I’ve said before, and I’d be shocked, SHOCKED, if it didn’t win approval. Now that approval will probably come with a bunch of dissenting language amongst the respective approving members – but it will still get approved. Not backing down in any way, in fact, I’d double down on it at the moment.
Bitcoin ETF Is “Imminent”
Further noting that VanEck has taken care of investor protection issues with “zero leverage and accredited investor protections built into [their] product”, Abacus claims its “conversations” with their sources at CBOE indicate a Bitcoin ETF approval is “imminent.”
According to the Abacus Journal, their sources at the CBOE have so far been “consistent” and “resolute” in their “belief” that Van Eck’s Bitcoin ETF application will be the first to be approved.
The news outlet also wrote that a Bitcoin ETF approval during early 2019 is “inevitable” given that:
- the cryptocurrency’s futures markets are “maturing”,
- the expected launch of Intercontinental Exchange’s (ICE) digital asset trading platform, Bakkt,
- announcement of Fidelity Investments crypto-related venture,
- Nasdaq, the world’s second-largest stock exchange with over $10 trillion in assets, “pushing into the crypto space”
