The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has stated that they require more time to consider five Bitcoin ETF proposals. All the proposals in question were submitted by Direxion Investments.

Bitcoin’s price continues to grow today amid speculation that an exchange-traded fund for the digital asset is coming soon.

Last month, the SEC received an ETF application from CBOE Global Markets. The company is the same that owns the Chicago Board Options Exchange – one of the first to launch Bitcoin futures contracts late last year.

Thanks to their compliance with earlier recommendations from the SEC, along with the partnerships they’ve forged to help deliver an ETF, the CBOE Global Markets’ effort is thought to be the one most likely to be approved first. The decision is expected in August.

However, the ETF proposal by CBOE Global Markets is just one of many submitted to the SEC. According to a document published today in the Federal Register, the SEC needs more time to consider five Bitcoin exchange traded funds proposed by Direxion Investments. These funds we submitted in January 2018.

The document published today states that the date the decision will be postponed to for the Direxion ETF proposals is September 21. It also reads:

“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider this proposed rule change.”

Notably absent from the document published today was mention of the proposal submitted by CBOE Global Markets. However, some in the cryptocurrency space believe that the SEC will similarly postpone this proposal closer to the presumed date of August 10.

Meanwhile, other publications have posted stories citing anonymous sources that claim an ETF approval is 90% likely next month. The Bitcoin price rising above $8,000 again in the last few days is clearly indicative of general optimism in the space.

It’s no secret that many in the Bitcoin and wider cryptocurrency space are hungry for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. For advocates of such an ETF, SEC approval of one of the many applications submitted to the financial regulators gives traditional money managers easier exposure to Bitcoin. The huge numbers of coins that an ETF may be required to hold would theoretically send the price much higher.

However, many novice investors were badly burned in December last year for presuming that the launch of the CME Group and CBOE futures contracts would be the catalyst for swathes of institutional money entering the market. If an ETF receives approval, but the demand isn’t there yet, the launch could similarly signal a large sell off.

Featured image from Shutterstock.

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