Unfortunately, the agencydoesnt seem convincedthat cryptocurrencies are ready for ETFs yet.
The Winklevoss twins were thefirst to filea Bitcoin ETF proposal with the SEC back in 2013.
The agency took its sweet time to make a decision, but finallyrejected the proposalfour years later.
A second proposal from the Winlevoss twins was also rejected last month.
The SEC againrejected nine different proposalsfiled for Bitcoin ETFs earlier this week.
So, its too soon to get excited about this development.
I for one am not expecting the SEC to rule in favor of Bitcoin ETFs anytime soon.
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Indeed, these are not just theoretical concerns.
Market manipulation remains one of the biggest worries in the cryptocurrency industry.
This is not true for just Bitcoin.
In fact, most creators of cryptocurrencies retain a significant portion of the cryptocurrency with themselves.
This has led to worries about creators of cryptocurrencies themselves engaging in manipulating the market.
Ripple is facingat least three lawsuitscurrently for accusations of market manipulation and securities law violation.
When you couple this with the paranoia that usually surrounds the cryptocurrency market, it gets worse.
The regulation and market uncertainty in the industry means traders react hastily to every news that comes their way.
The Bitcoins marketsees movementevery time in speculation when the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt.
Gox is about tomove its cryptocurrency reserves.As per multiplereports, it was the Mt.
trustee has sincedenied).
Take the case of the controversial USD-backed cryptocurrency Tether, for example.
This came months after the US CFTCsubpoenaedBitfinex and Tether in January.
Areport from Bloombergalso indicated tempering with Tethers trading on Kraken cryptocurrency exchange desk.
It is evident that at every stage, there are indications of market manipulation with cryptocurrencies.
As such, SECs concerns are not unfounded.
The companies proposing ETFs may themselves be regulated, but the overall Bitcoin industry isnt.
The US government canensure proper regulationof cryptocurrency within the country, it cant do so for others.
After all, Bitcoin is traded globally without geographical restrictions even in countries where it is illegal.
It is worth noting that Bitcoin and ETFs are against the essential principles of each other.
And ETFs cant go along with an anonymous unregulated asset.
Till then, Bitcoin has to make do without ETFs.
