The crypto industry can breathe a sigh of relief: It looks like a federal U.S. regulator will let the world’s largest traditional finance asset managers and other firms list and trade shares of a vehicle giving retail and institutional investors exposure to the price of a decentralized, trustless, stateless digital asset (if you’re in the U.S.). But of course, thebitcoin exchangetraded fund (ETF) drama wouldn’t be complete without, well, drama.
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The narrative
On Tuesday afternoon Eastern time, the official X (formerly Twitter) account belonging to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that all outstanding applications to list and trade shares of a spot bitcoin ETF had been approved. The problem was that none of these applications had been approved; the account was “compromised” and someone posted a ‘shopped graphic.
On Wednesday, Cboe BZX exchange started taking some additional steps to list and trade shares of spot bitcoin ETFs, further suggesting we may be close to an approval.
Read more: Cboe Says Bitcoin ETFs to Start Trading Thursday, Though the SEC Hasn’t Approved Them Yet
Why it matters
A spot bitcoin ETF is seen as a vehicle that retail traders can invest in (through everyday brokerage accounts) and institutional investors can access (because the shares are registered securities).
Breaking it down
Tea leaves
First off: There are tons of little signs that suggest a spot bitcoin ETF is getting approved, probably later today. Cboe has filed acceleration requests to register that it will list and trade shares of various ETFs. It also sent letters out on Tuesday saying it planned to begin trading pending approvals.
Fidelity’s brokerage has started setting up pages for some of the ETFs that may launch as soon as Thursday morning. E-Trade later started doing the same, suggesting they’re also preparing to let their customers buy and trade shares of these products.
Combined with the back-and-forth between SEC officials and issuers, these signs all hint that an ETF may well launch – soon. And if one is approved, it’s likely the entire slate will be allowed to go live.
Confusion abounds
Of course, this isn’t crypto…
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