US SEC set to allow first Bitcoin futures ETF

The news has seen Bitcoin's price cross the $60,000 mark for the first time since April

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to approve the first Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

Per sources familiar with the development, the US regulator will allow the Bitcoin-tied products filed by ProShares and Invesco to trade as early as next week. 

The news that the SEC is set to give a nod to Bitcoin-backed ETFs has significantly buoyed investor sentiment after almost a decade of waiting, with the agency either rejecting or delaying a decision on several applications since 2013.

But according to ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the SEC is not opposed to Bitcoin futures ETFs, and approval for at least one of the exchange-traded funds highlighted above is a "pretty much done deal".

SEC's tweet and Bitcoin's price surge above $60k

Bloomberg's report on an imminent approval of a Bitcoin futures ETF coincided with a warning to investors from the SEC's investor education office.

A tweet the agency posted on Thursday urged investors to "carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits" of investing in BTC or funds that hold Bitcoin futures contracts. It is not the first time the SEC has tweeted this warning, but according to Balchunas, its timing points to a decision.

"NOTE: the last time the SEC tweeted this bulletin was 7/26, one day before ProFunds' bitcoin strategy mutual fund "went effective" on 7/27 [] and two days before it launched on 7/28. If pattern holds, ProShares ETF will be trading Mon or Tue…," he said.

In the hours following the regulator's notice and reports of approval being a "done deal", Bitcoin's price soared.  According to data from CoinGecko, the benchmark cryptocurrency's value had touched $60,018.76, its highest price level in six months.

Bitcoin is trading around $59,875 at the time of writing, with bulls looking likely to attempt a retest of the all-time high of $64,804.72 reached on 14 April.