TL;DR Breakdown
- Russia not pproving any Bitcoin ETF soon.
- US long road to approving BTC ETF.
- Russia not approving a BTC ETF is in line with its anti-crypto positin.
Russia has again emphasized its tough stance against Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Elvira Nabiullina, the governor of Central Bank of Russia, has said Bitcoin ETF would not be admitted into the market.
The Central Bank of Russia’s president said they are not ready to permit trading of ETFs based on bitcoin futures.
Nabiullina said this at a press conference after she was asked by the business news portal RBC whether the Russian monetary policy regulator will follow the example set by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and authorize the listing of bitcoin ETFs in the country.
Bitcoin ETF in the US
The first US Bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds launched last week, allowing investors to buy and sell the assets outside of cryptocurrency exchanges.
These funds invest in bitcoin futures contracts or agreements to buy or sell the asset later for an agreed-upon price rather than bitcoin directly. It allows trading through regular investment accounts, bypassing the hassle and security concerns of cryptocurrency exchanges.
The approval of Bitcoin ETF in the US comes after almost a decade when companies have been trying to release the first BTC ETF in the US.
Before its approval, the SEC rejected the product sighting concerns about the lack of regulation and the potential for fraud and manipulation in the bitcoin market.
All that is now in the past now as the world power has approved BTC ETF, with the first getting launched last week.
Russia’s long-standing anti-crypto position
Nabiullina’s negative response to approving a Bitcoin ETF is in line with the country’s anti-crypto position.
In July, the apex bank told Russian stock exchanges to avoid trading financial instruments tied to crypto-assets and their prices. Their listing “entails increased risks of losses for people who do not have sufficient experience and knowledge,” the authority warned.
CBR also said asset managers should not include cryptocurrency assets in mutual funds. The CBR further called on brokers and trustees to refrain from offering “pseudo-derivatives with such underlying assets to unqualified investors.”
