Bitcoin-related ETFs had a block on launch pending clarification of some security aspects. The SEC (the American Consob) would have asked for a step back from the companies that are thinking of introducing this investment tool, waiting to clarify the possible risks. ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds) are investment funds that can be traded like shares and replicate the performance of an underlying (bitcoins, in this case). The SEC had already opposed its "no" to the twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the first (last March) to propose an ETF on cryptocurrency. Other companies, including Direxion, ProShares and VanEck, have relaunched and sent a new request to the supervisory authority: compared to the Winklevoss funds, which proposed direct investments in bitcoin as underlying, the new ETFs were anchored to bitcoin futures , i.e. to an asset (launched at the end of 2017) traded on a regulated market. Apparently, however, this difference was not enough to get the SEC's yes. The authorities would be worried, reports Reuters, about the "valuation and liquidity" of futures. A renewed caution that would not refer only to ETFs but, more generally, to all activities and companies that invest in cryptocurrencies.
