The Van Eck Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund will probably never appear. CBOE BZX Exchange decided to withdraw the Van Eck Solid X Bitcoin Trust, just a month before the US Securities and Exchange Commission was supposed to make another pronouncement.
In the past, the fund has been withdrawn temporarily, with a subsequent re-filing. But there is less and less hope that the US SEC will approve the fund. Instead, another investment vehicle was created, which will offer BTC exposure to private clients.
The newly created Trust was aimed at institutional investors, offering XBTCZ shares. But the tool did not prove too popular. As of September 17, the vehicle has about 4 BTC worth of funds under management, meaning it only sold one investment lot.
At the same time, even the smallest crypto exchanges trade more than 4 BTC within just a day. Now, the renewed hope for mainstream investment in BTC is the Bakkt BTC futures market, which is set to launch within days.
The other possibility for BTC investments without directly buying a digital asset are the Grayscale Capital funds. Those funds are only partially backed by BTC and a handful of other digital coins. The funds are available for retail investors as well.
European investors have had the possibility to be exposed to BTC and Ethereum (ETH) prices for years, through the funds of XBT Provider. The exchange-traded note (ETN) is traded on NASDAQ Nordic.
The launch of an ETF is no longer seen as critical for BTC adoption and price action. Trading and demand has switched to Asian exchanges, and there are enough retail opportunities to directly invest in BTC.
BTC prices stagnated around $10,252.58, a robust level, though still not achieving a parabolic price climb. Other digital coins and tokens are starting to post gains, easily adding 15% per day with improving trading volumes.
