Nov 17, 202

The SEC turned down the requested approval for a publicly traded Exchange Traded Fund sought by the Van Eck Company.  It stated concerns regarding fraud and manipulation as reasons for not approving.  This fund was to be a “spot” price Bitcoin ETF which means it would reflect the daily value of Bitcoin.  What was approved was an ETF with the symbol XBTF which is a futures bitcoin ETF like the one launched recently with the symbol BITO (Pro Shares Bitcoin Strategy) .  Pro Shares are a leading provider of Exchange Traded Funds which became popular in 2006 and has the largest line up of ETFs with assets of $70 Billion.  Van Eck has 64 ETFs which hold $63.4 Billion dollar in assets.

The Pro Shares Bitcoin Strategy Fund was first offered October 2021 and the Van Eck ETF focused on Bitcoin futures was introduced this week.

Bitcoin and cryptos are not only gathering steam worldwide with young investors, not big fund families are hoping to offer more to their customers in the shape of some sort of fund with exposure to Bitcoin.  This signals a more gradual acceptance of bitcoin in general as a desired investment for more and  more people.  It also paves the way in allowing more and more investors the ability to purchase an investment vehicle without having to buy the Bitcoin itself or have a Crypto Wallet, etc.  So, it is exciting news!