The Securities and Exchange Commission has finally given official approval to a number of proposed Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) after months of anticipation within the cryptocurrency industry. This formal approval comes just hours after the Chicago Board Options Exchange had already approved six Bitcoin ETF applications of its own earlier on Wednesday.
The SEC greenlit Bitcoin ETF proposals from several major financial institutions including ARK Invest, BlackRock, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Hashdex, and Valkyrie. Grayscale also received approval to convert its popular Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF that will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Analysts and industry experts widely expect these newly approved bitcoin ETFs to attract significant new institutional investment into the cryptocurrency market.
The issuers of these newly approved Bitcoin ETFs have disclosed their planned management fees, which range from 0.2% on the low end up to 1.5% on the high end, excluding any fee waivers.
In reaction to the long-awaited SEC approval, the price of Bitcoin itself initially rose to around $45,700 on Wednesday afternoon before dropping back down a bit. Some experts attribute this slight pullback to investors deciding to take some profits off the table now that the uncertainty around SEC approval has been resolved after months of anticipation.
Notably, the official announcement comes just one day after the SEC’s own Twitter account was hacked and posted a false statement claiming approval for the Bitcoin ETFs. This unauthorized tweet briefly sent the Bitcoin price surging to over $47,000 before SEC Chair Gary Gensler confirmed the account had been compromised and the posted statement was false. So this formal approval statement sets the record straight after that unfortunate incident.
Overall, the SEC’s official green light for these Bitcoin ETF products represents a major milestone for cryptocurrency adoption and integration into the mainstream financial system. Many anticipate these new SEC-approved ETFs will open the floodgates to significant new institutional investment in the crypto space.