SEC confirmed this Wednesday night Creation of ETFstools to enable investment bitcoin without going through specialized intermediaries. The acceptance came after all requests were rejected for more than a decade. The measure will allow the opening of vehicles (investment funds) that will allow individual or institutional investors to invest in cryptocurrencies without the need to have a ‘wallet’ or open an account with one of the specialized brokerage firms. going bankrupt FTX It represented a before and after that increased the risks of an already risky investment.
The North American regulator has warned that despite this approval, it still does not support cryptocurrencies due to their clearly speculative nature and being riddled with knowledge gaps regarding their inner workings. Bitcoin gained more than 150% in 2023 after falling 64% in 2022; This is largely due to the possibility that the creation of exchange-traded funds with reference to this currency will finally be approved.
Among the asset managers who received this approval are leading companies in the industry such as BlackRock, Invesco and Fidelity. This decision represents support from regulators that should strengthen confidence in these assets. This approval opens the door to applications for new exchange-traded funds with reference to other cryptocurrencies. Ether, Ethereum’s token, is the best positioned. Although Bitcoin is the preferred option for investors, it represents more than 50% of the $1.7 trillion valuation of this business.
concentrated investment
Despite the approval, doubts remain about whether these investment mechanisms will be able to provide the necessary liquidity or whether there will be new manipulations of assets and price fluctuations. There is no reliable data on who the real owners of cryptocurrencies are and their ability to influence prices. The Tax Office’s latest estimates showed that just 20 ultra-rich people in Spain own more than 1.2 billion cryptocurrencies. The difficulty in estimating the value of digital currency complicates the role of the regulator.
11 ETFs or exchange-traded funds approved by the SEC may be listed in the coming days. Investors will be able to invest in a Bitcoin-referenced asset in a more transparent and orderly way in cash. Investment experts are optimistic, although they expect the business to grow gradually. “Institutional investors will need to continue to agree with their clients on diversification into such assets, but a gradual transfer of funds from brokers specializing in cryptocurrencies to this new product is also expected,” explains XTB analyst Joaquín Robles.
Analysts disagree on the revaluation of the international price. While Robles acknowledges the possibility of profit taking following recent rallies in Bitcoin, others recall that if gold rises, opening the same type of investment instruments increases prices.
Albert Salvany, co-founder of Funding Fast (an investment company specializing in startups), said: “The authorization of these ETFs opens the way for Bitcoin to be among the Champions of the financial markets, making it available to all audiences and overcoming the technological knowledge barrier for investing and managing it.” His optimism is expressed this way: “Wholesale investment in these assets is receiving what I believe is definite support for its consolidation.”
The direction of commissions that will put every intermediary in its place is still pending in a market where traditional banking has declared for years that it wants to enter but needs some tools to minimize risks through international firms such as BlackRock, Invesco or Fidelity. .