Industry players do not believe in SEC Bitcoin ETF approval in 2020

Industry players do not believe in SEC Bitcoin ETF approval in 2020

The vast majority of respondents to The Block’s 2020 forecast do not believe in the approval by the US regulator of Bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year.

Of the 106 survey participants representing venture capital investment, financing and the digital currency ecosystem, 82 respondents or 77.4% answered “no” to the question “will Bitcoin ETF pass in 2020?”.

However, 24 respondents (22.6%) answered in the affirmative.

The main concern of the SEC is the possible manipulation of the cryptocurrency spot market, the data from which will serve as the basis for quotes approved by the ETF.

The nature of the concerns the regulator revealed in a letter rejecting the application of Bitwise Asset Management to launch Bitcoin ETF.

SEC is concerned about the impact of price changes on platforms with fake trading volumes on quotes of “real” sites.

“The commission has no reason to conclude that prices on“ real ”platforms are isolated from prices on the rest of the market,” said the regulator.

Bitwise applied for Bitcoin ETF approval in January 2019. The SEC has repeatedly delayed decision making. The company in September made an additional attempt to convince the regulator of the maturity of the first cryptocurrency market, but in October the Bitwise application was rejected.

Later, the SEC announced its readiness to reconsider its decision, and the company once again tried to dispel the concern of the Commission about possible manipulations in the bitcoin spot market. However, in January, Bitwise withdrew the ETF bid.

Recall that despite the optimistic attitude of Bitwise regarding the approval of the application, the lawyer working in the cryptocurrency industry Jake Cherwinski estimated the probability of this at 0.01%.

Industry players do not believe in SEC Bitcoin ETF approval in 2020