Two new Bitcoin EFTs await SEC approval

One of the world’s largest EFT companies recently filed for two new Bitcoin EFTs. The EFTs will track bitcoin futures in the Chicago Board of Options Exchange.

ProShare Capital Management recently filed two new Bitcoin EFTs that will be able to track future bitcoin contracts based on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange. The EFTs are currently awaiting approval from the Security Exchange Commission (SEC).

ProShare Capital is the world’s tenth largest EFT companies, with over $29 billion in assets currently under their management. The Maryland-based company filed their two new Bitcoin EFTs with the SEC this past Wednesday.

According to the Form S-1, their two new Bitcoin ventures, ProShares Bitcoin ETF and ProShares Short Bitcoin ETF, will be aimed at tracking future contracts that are traded on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange(CBOE) and will trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Their latest Bitcoin EFT will be invaluable to the rapidly shifting cryptocurrency market. Trading in the market is still in its infancy, making it hard to track or detect trends and trading deals. By establishing these EFTs, ProShares hopes to play a part in tracking and encouraging future contracts.

Other stock exchanges and traders have echoed the growing need for tracking cryptocurrency trends. In August this year, the Chicago Board of Options Exchange expressed that they aimed to offer more bitcoin futures, either towards the end of 2017 or at the beginning of 2018. However, VanEck’s recent failure to create a Bitcoin EFT could mean that this process is more complex than hopeful traders and companies previously thought. VanEck, which currently ranks as the ninth most powerful company in the EFT industry, recently withdrew its Bitcoin EFT application from the SEC.

According to the letter, the SEC found VanEck’s policies for cryptocurrency inadequate and asked them to formally withdraw. VanEck’s failure to address certain technicalities and functions of Bitcoin in their policies suggests that establishing a fully-functioning Bitcoin EFT that the SEC is willing to approve might be harder than it seems.

However, with the growing popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, there has never been a better time to establish traditional regulation methods and EFTs in order to make cryptocurrency less volatile and more sustainable.