NYSE Chairman Bullish on Bitcoin and Digital Asset Longevity
Chairman of the New York Stock Exchange NYSE Jeff Sprecher expressed the idea that “bitcoin and other digital assets are here to stay” at a recent CoinDesk Consensus: Invest conference.
Crypto ETFs / ETNs / Trusts / Funds / etc.
This section covers cryptocurrency ETFs, ETNs, trusts, funds, and other such products. For example, this section includes GBTC.
NOTE: The Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) is a trust that holds Bitcoin. Shares of the trust can be purchased on the stock market. The trust holds about 170,000 bitcoins. Each share represents about .092 bitcoins (so if you own 10 shares, you own contracts that represent just under 1 bitcoin). In other words, GBTC isn’t a cryptocurrency. Instead, it represents ownership of a cryptocurrency held in a trust by the Greyscale investments.
VanEck / NASDAQ Bitcoin Futures Product Announced
VanEck’s ETF might be in limbo with the SEC, but they are moving forward with crypto by partnering with NASDAQ to “bring a regulated crypto 2.0 futures-type contract” to the market.
Bakkt Launch Delayed Until Jan 24, 2019
Bakkt is now targeting a launch date of January 24, 2019. This was delayed from the original December 19, 2018 launch date.
FINRA Reporting on Digital Assets Has Some Broker-Dealers Avoiding Crypto
FINRA has been “encouraging” broker-dealers to report details about digital assets. It is good to have formal rules, but some broker-dealers are avoiding crypto to avoid the soft requirements.
SEC BTC ETF Comments Round Ends Nov 5; Decision Not Imminent
November 5th is the last day to provide comments on the Bitcoin ETF to the SEC. The decision on the ETF will then come later.
GBTC Premium is Near Zero; Historically that is Bullish for BTC
GBTC’s premium can act as an indicator for BTC. It is sort of a contrarian misery index. The lower the premium, the closer BTC generally is to a run.
Bakkt Goes Live on Dec. 12, 2018
Bakkt launches Dec 12th, 2018 assuming the CFTC doesn’t block them. That means daily futures contracts start Dec 12th. We explain the Bakkt launch.
ETCG Trading Below ETC Cost
A bit of milestone today, ETCG traded below the cost of ETC. For an asset that used to trade at over 2x of ETC’s value, that is a little mind blowing.
BTC Hitting Oct 2017 Support, GBTC Hitting Sept Support
BTC is hitting Oct 2017 support. That support has been holding well since Feb 2018. GBTC is hitting Sept 2017 support. That support hasn’t been tested since Sept 2017.
Van Eck SolidX ETF Postponed
The SEC’s decision on the Bitcoin ETF from Van Eck Securities Corp. and SolidX Management is postponed while the SEC requests another round of comments from the public. The exact decision date isn’t clear, but essentially it is 21 days for comments from Sept 20th (when the order was published in the Federal Register), 35 days for rebuttals from that date, and then with that information another decision has to be made.