BITCOIN ETFs APPROVED, REALLY!

Bitcoin ETF will change the playing field for investors. XRP next up!

Image credit: Stockphoto

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds, including those of Bitwise, Grayscale, Hashdex, BlackRock, Valkyrie, BZX, Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and Franklin.

"After careful review, the Commission finds that the Proposals are consistent with the Exchange Act and rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange," the document states.

The document notes that fraud or manipulation that would impact prices in spot bitcoin markets would likely impact bitcoin futures prices in similar ways.

While the document approves the issuers' 19b-4 forms, they will still need their S-1 forms to be effective for trading to start. Once trading gets underway, these products could see large inflows. Valkyrie Investments co-founder and CIO Steven McClurg said he expects $200 million to $400 million of investors’ funds coming to Valkyrie’s ETF, and all participants might see $4 to $5 billion of inflows over the first couple of weeks. VanEck estimated that $1 billion of funds would arrive in the first few days, and $2.4 billion within a quarter. Galaxy expects $14 billion within the first year. Bitwise said it anticipated the market for spot bitcoin ETFs to reach around $72 billion within five years. 

On Tuesday, the SEC’s X account was compromised and a post went out claiming the SEC had granted approval for listing bitcoin ETFs on all registered securities exchanges with an image showing a quote by SEC Chair Gary Gensler. It was shortly deleted with follow up posts claiming it was unauthorized and that spot bitcoin ETFs had not been approved by that point.

Image credit: Ripple

Today's approval will be a game-changer for bitcoin, offering institutional and retail investors exposure to the world's largest cryptocurrency without directly holding it, and a major boost for a crypto industry.

This might sound crazy to some, but if you are a crypto enthusiast like me, you know one of the fastest paths to generational wealth could be investing in the right asset at the right time. (wink wink)