The director of investments at Valkyrie believes that the recent collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange has caused a delay in the launch of exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin in the United States.
Steven McClurg expressed his opinion on the status of spot ETFs for bitcoin to journalists. While such investment products have been approved in Canada and Brazil since 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been opposed to their launch.
McClurg noted that it took a long time for the Canadian regulator to approve such investment products as well.
The two major hurdles preventing the approval of spot cryptocurrency ETFs in the US are custody issues and market manipulation. While the first issue could be easily resolved, McClurg believes that the FTX crypto exchange fiasco has caused regulators to step back and review custodial services.
With regards to market manipulation concerns, McClurg believes these fears are unfounded since bitcoin ETFs in Canada are functioning successfully.
Despite the absence of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, American citizens can still access such products through Canadian brokerages, according to McClurg.
A top executive at Valkyrie Investments noted that many lawmakers, particularly in the US House of Representatives, are willing to support laws that make it easier to launch bitcoin-linked ETFs.
However, McClurg is uncertain about when they will be available in the US. Valkyrie Investments’ top manager said, “We believe that we will be able to launch bitcoin traded funds either under a new post-election administration or through legislative action.”
The SEC authorized the launch of the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF in February last year, which invests in mining companies. In May, the agency approved Valkyrie Investments’ application to create a bitcoin futures ETF.