The bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) race is on. In the United States, three different groUPS are seeking to list a bitcoin ETF on a major stock exchange, and they’re all racing to be the first.
The first group is made up of the Winklevoss twins, famous for their early involvement in Facebook. The Winklevosses are looking to list their bitcoin ETF on the Bats BZX Exchange. The second group is led by investment firm VanEck and financial services company SolidX. They’re looking to list their bitcoin ETF on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
The third group is made up of REX ETFs, which filed for a bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in December 2017.
So, which bitcoin ETF is best?
All three groUPS have different approaches, but all three are seeking to accomplish the same goal: to give investors a way to invest in bitcoin without having to buy and store the digital currency themselves.
The Winklevosses’ approach is to buy bitcoins and then hold them in a trust. The VanEck/SolidX approach is similar, but instead of holding bitcoins, they plan to hold bitcoin futures contracts.
REX ETFs plans to hold a mix of bitcoins and other digital currencies.
So far, the SEC has not been receptive to any of the proposed bitcoin ETFs. In March 2017, the SEC rejected an earlier version of the Winklevosses’ proposal.
In July 2018, the SEC rejectedVanEck/SolidX’s proposal. And in January 2019, the SEC again rejected the Winklevosses’ proposal.
The SEC has cited concerns about fraud and manipulation as its reasons for rejecting previous proposals. However, some experts believe that the real reason behind the rejections is that the SEC simply doesn’t understand cryptocurrency markets well enough yet.
Whatever the reason for the rejections, it’s clear that getting a bitcoin ETF approved by the SEC is no easy feat. That said, all three groUPS are still working on getting their respective ETFs approved and it seems likely that one of them will eventually succeed.
So which Bitcoin ETF is best? Only time will tell.