Cryptocurrency firm Bitwise has made a new pitch to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to gain approval for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), arguing that the market has become more efficient over the years.
Bitcoin ETF Pitch
Bitwise’s presentation, which was delivered to three SEC commissioners last week, is making another push for ETF approval after previous attempts had been met with delay and rejection.
The SEC has been notoriously slow in addressing the issue of approving a bitcoin ETF, with many crypto analysts perplexed by the holdup. Just last week, frontrunner VanEck and SolidX withdrew their proposals for an ETF out of frustration, ahead of the SEC’s Oct. 18 deadline for making a decision.
VanEck withdrew its bitcoin ETF proposal today, presumably expecting that the SEC would reject it next month. Bitwise's proposal is still pending (for now) & due for a final decision on October 13. My best guess — there will be no bitcoin ETF in 2019. 🙁https://t.co/cMamYkymk1
— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) September 17, 2019
Two weeks ago SEC Chairman Jay Clayton told CNBC that while progress was being made for a crypto ETF, there was still “work left to be done.”
Bitwise’s latest attempt is centered around proving that the bitcoin spot market has become more efficient and “materially” improved over the past two years.
Matt Hougan, global head of research at Bitwise, told The Block,
A lot of people have a view of the crypto market that is anchored somewhere in the past … maybe in Silk Road, maybe in the 2018 bear market. The reality is that the market has become truly institutional in nature, with very tight arbitrage between real exchanges, major advances in custody, and the growth of a large, regulated futures market.
Bitwise argued that the market for regulated bitcoin futures contracts has become “significant,” with CME exchange averaging $235 million in daily volume last month. In addition, the firm said that the bitcoin custody market has been growing and is “fully institutional.”
Bitwise To SEC: 3 Reasons for Bitcoin ETF.
1- BTC Spot market has become efficient – average deviation of price on exchanges has decreased since Dec 2017
2- BTC custody has become fully institutional
3- Regulated futures market has become significant – futures trading volume 🚀 pic.twitter.com/2sVrLkNgBf— MegaLTR (@MegaLTR) September 21, 2019
Bitwise Undeterred
The SEC delayed making a decision on Bitwise’s application, which was originally filed in January of this year, until Oct. 13. Despite other firms falling to the wayside, the company remains intent on gaining ETF approval even if it means waiting.
Bitwise COO Teddy Fusaro said,
The questions [the SEC] have asked are hard… The plan is for Bitwise to continue to work on answering those questions irrespective of what happens in October.
Featured Image Credit: Photo via Pixabay.com
