VanEck’s exchange-traded fund, related to Bitcoin futures, will start trading on the NYSE after October 23. The first ETF, which got launched recently, barely reaches a billion dollars in trade volume.
A second Bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) is about to hit the US market next week. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), VanEck received regulatory approval to launch its Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
The New York-based asset management company is the latest to join the ETF race. Now the company would add ProShares, which was the first to acquire regulatory approval, and launched its Bitcoin futures ETF this week.
According to the report, VanEck’s fund would start trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) after October 23. The negotiation will begin “as soon as possible after the effective date,” the SEC document details, suggesting that the launch will occur on Monday, October 25.
VanEck ETF is About to Arrive on October 25
Similar to the ProShares ETF, the VanEck exchange-traded fund will get linked to Bitcoin futures. This link means that it would not receive back-up from physical Bitcoin but by derivative contracts.
On Friday, ProShares filed a post-effective prospectus with the SEC, indicating the Commission’s go-ahead to achieve the launch of the first Bitcoin futures ETF. VanEck filed the same type of document on Wednesday, meaning the regulator has also given the company the green light to launch its fund.
On the other hand, the SEC had already postponed the verdict date for the VanEck product multiple times.
Both announcements represent an important milestone for the cryptocurrency industry in the US. For a long time, companies in the sector have been applying for ETFs backed by digital assets, but, until now, no investment product of its kind has received approval from the regulatory agency.
The success of the First Bitcoin ETF will set the Tone
The first Bitcoin futures ETF, from ProShares, began trading Tuesday on the NYSE, immediately becoming one of the most relevant ETF debuts in US history. After a day of its release, the ETF has already approached a trading volume of almost one million US dollars.
Each share in the fund is currently trading for USD 43.42, at least 8.55% above the opening price of USD 40 on Tuesday. The total volume traded is 20 million shares, or almost $ 900 million.
The ProShares and VanEck approvals mark the first time US investors can buy and trade shares of an ETF directly linked to Bitcoin. Although the United States of America is not the first country to create something like that, it still lags behind many countries in the race for Bitcoin.
On the other hand, Canadian regulators allowed several physically-backed Bitcoin ETFs, while other publicly traded products are available in certain European nations.
Even though the US does not yet have an ETF backed by physical Bitcoin, various experts have highlighted that the move represents a crucial step towards greater institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies.
By: Jenson Nuñez
