There's plenty of interest, but not much serious support for a Bitcoin ETF, judging by comments from ETF providers and others at this week's Inside ETFs conference.
Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley, for instance, said Monday in an interview with CNBC: "You will never see a fund from Vanguard on Bitcoin. We tend to stay away from assets that don't have underlying economic value. They don't generate earnings or cash flows."
The head of the fund giant is not alone.
We are "early" in the Bitcoin futures cycles, which means the launch of Bitcoin ETFs will take time, Hunter Horsley, founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, told a packed conference session on Tuesday in Hollywood, Florida.
"The SEC got about 30 comments regarding custody, liquidity, etc.," Horsley explained about the regulator's recent decision to ask ETF manufacturers to withdraw their applications while it studies the asset class.
"There are lots of good questions that have to be addressed," he added. The possible launch of Bitcoin ETFs in 2018 is "really unclear."
