Industry players do not believe in SEC Bitcoin ETF approval in 2020

The vast majority of respondents to The Block's 2020 forecast survey do not believe in US regulatory approvalexchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on bitcoin this year.

Of the 106 survey participants representing the areasventure capital investments, financing and the digital currency ecosystem, 82 respondents or 77.4% answered «no» to the question «will there be a Bitcoin ETF in 2020?».

However, 24 respondents (22.6%) answered in the affirmative.

The main concern of the SEC is the possible manipulation of the cryptocurrency spot market, the data from which will serve as the basis for ETF approved quotes.

The nature of the concerns the regulator revealed in a letter rejecting the application of Bitwise Asset Management to launch Bitcoin ETF.

The SEC is concerned about the impact of price changes on platforms with fake trading volumes on quotes of «real» platforms.

«The Commission has no basis for concluding that prices are «real» platforms are isolated from prices in the rest of the market»,- noted the regulator.

Bitwise has applied for Bitcoin ETF approvalJanuary 2019 The SEC has repeatedly delayed decision making. The company in September made an additional attempt to convince the regulator of the maturity of the first cryptocurrency market, but in October the Bitwise application was rejected.

SEC later announced readiness to reviewhis decision, and the company once again tried to dispel the concern of the Commission about possible manipulations in the spot bitcoin market. However, in January, Bitwise withdrew the ETF bid.

Recall that despite the optimistic attitude of Bitwise regarding the approval of the application, the lawyer working in the cryptocurrency industry Jake Cherwinski estimated the probability of this at 0.01%.