Virtual Currencies | The United States made a decision that makes investing in bitcoin much easier

of the United States The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the market for the first exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that invest directly in the virtual currency bitcoin.

The SEC announced the months-awaited decision late Wednesday evening Finnish time.

The decision is significant, as it enables investing in bitcoin without the investor needing to create, for example, a crypto wallet or an account on crypto exchanges. This can attract, for example, investors who have been worried about the security risks associated with bitcoin crypto wallets and exchanges.

In practice, those who have invested in a bitcoin etf fund put their money in a fund that monitors bitcoin's price development. In the future, the Bitcoin ETF fund can be traded on the stock exchange in the same way as stocks.

Authoritative authorized a total of eleven bitcoin ETFs for the US market. Both the traditional asset management giants Blackrock and Fidelity and the newest players such as Ark Investments received permission for bitcoin ETFs.

Some ETFs are expected to start trading as early as Thursday. For example, Blackrock is participating in the opening ceremony of the Nasdaq exchange and the company is expected to promote its fund called Ishares Bitcoin Trust, a British newspaper Financial Times tells.

Since 2013, several market participants have tried to get approval for bitcoin ETFs, but until now the SEC has rejected the funds as too open to speculation.

Although According to the news agency Reuters, bitcoin ETFs have previously been on the market in Canada and Europe, the SEC's decision is generally considered revolutionary for the virtual currency market.

This is because the United States has the largest capital market in the world and is home to some of the largest asset managers and institutional investors.

Finns cannot invest their money in ETFs that are now approved for the US market.

There have been ETFs tracking bitcoin futures in the US market in the past. The SEC approved the first such ETF in 2021.

Investment adviser Devere Group CEO Nigel Green assesses in his comment that the SEC's decision is a “milestone” for bitcoin and the wider virtual currency market.

According to Green's assessment, the price of bitcoin may rise “to the clouds” in the long term and possibly close to $60,000 this quarter, as the SEC's decision dispels bitcoin's reputation as a speculative and volatile investment. Institutional investors have shunned bitcoin investments due to the lack of regulation.

On Thursday morning, the Bitcoin price was around 46,000 US dollars. The rate is well below the peak price of $69,000, where the bitcoin rate was in November 2021.

However, the value of the virtual currency is almost three times what it was two years ago, when Bitcoin was quoted at $16,000 in the aftermath of the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

of the SEC Wednesday's decision was preceded by a hacking incident that caused confusion.

The SEC's account on the messaging service X was hacked on Tuesday and a message was published on the account, according to which the agency had approved the first bitcoin ETF.

The unauthorized message was removed in less than 20 minutes, but the bitcoin price had time to rise clearly before that.