Ridiculous considering how many other far riskier ETF's have been approved and have come to market. If the goal is to ultimately protect the small investor you can start by getting rid of all those bullshit 3X ETF's and etn's that lose value by design. People want to be long Bitcoin without sending money to sketchy exchanges that could go bust. This ETF makes it safer to do so. There is clearly a strong bank lobbying effort in the background.
Bitcoin again came below $8000 following this news after touching the highest levels of $8500 this week.
It's the same old application that was filed 2 years ago and rejected first time 1 year ago. I believe it was rejected because the underlying asset of the ETF is unregulated. The two Bitcoin futures are regulated by US Gov and an ETF/ETN using these as underlying asset have a much higher chance of being approved. As I understand there are currently five different ETF/ETN applications in the pipeline for SEC approval. The Winklevoss ETF was one of them.
I believe that the ETF would have to hold bitcoins. They can vanish just like they have at bitcoin exchanges. One day, your ETF that you own might also go belly up. Contrast this with an ETF that holds stock/shares. They can't ever be stolen electronically.