According to Decrypt, a recent poll by Bitwise revealed that about 40% of financial advisors are confident that a Bitcoin ETF will be available to American investors in 2024, while the rest remain uncertain. Despite most market observers believing the SEC's approval for a Bitcoin ETF is a matter of when, not if, many professionals advising clients on investments are not as confident. The survey also found that 88% of respondents interested in purchasing Bitcoin for their clients are waiting for an ETF to become available.
A spot Bitcoin ETF would allow investors to add Bitcoin exposure to their portfolios without directly buying and holding the cryptocurrency, providing market benefits without the overhead of using hardware wallets or private keys. The survey also discovered that 6 in 10 respondents said clients have been investing in crypto outside of their relationship with financial advisors, indicating a promising sign for firms considering offering crypto products. However, the number of clients allocating funds in crypto has slightly decreased, down to 11% in 2023 from 15% in 2022 and 16% in 2021, but still higher than in 2020 and 2019 when less than 10% of clients wanted a portion of their portfolio in crypto.
Bitwise has a vested interest in the approval of a Bitcoin ETF, having filed its application for the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF Trust with the SEC in 2019 and 2021, both times being rejected. The company amended its application and refiled in November 2023, now called the 'Bitwise Bitcoin ETF'. The SEC has recently provided more details on what it wants to see from applicants before approving a Bitcoin ETF, including disclosing authorized participants in their S-1 registrations and a preference for creation and settlement of shares happening in cash, not in Bitcoin. Major applicants such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and Ark have updated their applications accordingly, and Bitcoin ETF contenders Grayscale, Ark, VanEck, and Valkyrie have filed notice with the SEC that they have each gained approval from their respective exchanges to begin trading once the regulator gives the green light.
