SEC considers Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF application

United States regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is reviewing a new application for a cryptocurrency exchange-traded fund (ETF), documents released on May 9 show.

The product comes courtesy of Crescent Crypto Index Services, a subsidiary of benchmarking and passive index investing firm Crescent Crypto Asset Management.

It would include a portfolio of both bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH), and be active on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the “XBET” ticker.

“XBET is an exchange traded fund. This means that most investors who decide to buy or sell shares of XBET place their trade orders through their brokers and may incur customary brokerage commissions and charges,” the filing confirms. It continues: “Shares of XBET are expected to trade on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol ‘XBET’ and will be bought and sold throughout the trading day at bid and ask prices like other publicly traded securities.”

Concerns over compliance mean that rejections have come frequently since the first bid to launch the product in March 2017, with delays contributing to the already slow progress. At the same time, regulators themselves have hinted they are confident that at some point in the future, an ETF will satisfy all the necessary requirements, a view echoed by industry figures.