The United States SEC still has a lot of cryptocurrency ETF applications on its table to review despite recent progress
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved its first Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF). The approval came over the weekend, and the ETF is set to start trading on the stock exchange today.
The cryptocurrency community has been clamouring for a cryptocurrency ETF in the United States after Canada and Brazil approved a few earlier this year. While the SEC has been reluctant to approve ETFs tracking the spot price of cryptocurrencies, it has finally approved a Bitcoin futures ETF.
Over the weekend, the US SEC approved the listing of the ProShares Bitcoin futures ETF on the stock exchange. According to the investment firm, the futures ETF will be listed on the stock exchange today and trade under the ticker $BITO.
The Bitcoin futures ETF will list on NYSE Arca. Following this latest development, the ProShares Bitcoin ETF has become the first crypto futures-based product to list on a United States stock exchange. The Bitcoin futures investment vehicle doesn’t directly invest in the Bitcoin spot market. However, institutional investors can gain indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies via the Bitcoin futures ETF.
The United States continues to play catch up to Canada. Over the past few months, the Canadian securities regulator has approved the listing of a few Bitcoin and Ether ETFs. The ETFs listed in Canada are tracking the spot prices of Bitcoin and Ether.
Since the start of the fourth quarter, Bitcoin has embarked on a massive rally. The cryptocurrency is up by more than 30% over the past three weeks and has topped the $62,000 mark at the time of writing. Thanks to its rally, Bitcoin is less than 4% down from the all-time high of $64,000, which it achieved in April.
Bitcoin could extend its rally over the coming months as some analysts predict that it could reach the $100,000 level before the end of the year.
