Europe saw the launch of the first spot Bitcoin ETF on Tuesday, but it turned out to be a sell-the-news moment since the cryptocurrency’s price plummeted in the following days to multi-month lows.
Interestingly, something similar happened back in 2021 after the launch of the futures Bitcoin ETFs in the States, leading to speculations on whether these products are actually benefiting the crypto industry.
Going under the ticker BCOIN, the Jacobi FT Wilshire Bitcoin ETF went live earlier this week on the Euronext Amsterdam exchange, marking the launch of the first spot BTC exchange-traded fund in the European Union.
Moreover, the two entities behind it – Jacobi Asset Management and Wilshire Indexes – claimed that the ETF contains a “verifiable built-in Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) solution which allows institutional investors to access the benefits of Bitcoin whilst also meeting ESG goals.”
This product came at a time when the words “spot Bitcoin ETF” are particularly hot, so one could expect that its launch would be regarded as a highly bullish development for the entire industry.
Well, this hasn’t been the case, at least yet. Instead of a hype-driven price rally, BTC’s price performance has been quite underwhelming, with the asset slumping by roughly a grand and a half since its weekly peak at $29,700 (on Bitstamp).
Moreover, bitcoin dropped to $28,300 earlier on August 17 and marked its lowest price position in about two months.
2021 was perhaps the most bullish and favorable year for bitcoin, at least in recent times, as the cryptocurrency charted new peaks frequently, resulting in an all-time high of $69,000 in November. In fact, that ATH came just a few weeks after the launch of the first BTC-related exchange-traded fund in the States, albeit being a futures one.
What followed, though, was not all that bullish. Instead of heading toward $100,000 as many in the community expected back then (remember the laser eyes?), BTC plummeted by approximately $20,000 by the end of the year. Less than a month later, the asset was down to $33,000.
And that was before the war in Ukraine started, the crash of Terra, the subsequent bankruptcies, and the FTX implosion that happened later that year, all of which further dragged BTC’s price south.
So maybe the BTC ETFs are not so good for the industry after all? Or maybe their negative impact is just momentary.
Nevertheless, it would be interesting to follow what would or could happen to BTC and the entire market if the SEC finally decides to greenlight a spot Bitcoin ETF in the States. According to the agency’s latest on the matter, though, that would be in 2024, the earliest, as it delayed making a final decision on the recent filings.
