As market innovators and advocates chip away at the floodgates, it's possible the dam might just burst open at any moment...
The amount of positive news about Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency market just keeps coming. Despite this, prices remain suppressed and even a little depressing at times. The looming palls that continue to hang over us like a dark cloud, such as the Mt. Gox whale, exchange hacks, or various regulatory bans around the world, are maintaining a subdued sentiment in the market.
But there's just so much good news creating a subtle yet difficult to see silver lining around these foreboding clouds. The SEC's recent rejection of a Winklevoss ETF only furthered the genuine possibility of an ETF approval with the support of Hester Peirce and the more robust upcoming ETF offerings. This includes the possibility of insured custody through applicants like the CBOE with SolidX and VanEck as backers. The CBOE ETF proposal is, of course, only one of a number of ETF applicants with the real possibility of moving Bitcoin into a much larger realm of investment that could include pension funds and 401k's, for example.
Just today, the Intercontinental Exchange -- owner of the New York Stock Exchange -- announced a partnership with Microsoft and Starbucks to launch a cryptocurrency exchange with the intention of bringing mass adoption through genuine utility of Bitcoin as a buying and selling currency, rather than only a speculative store of value. This new venture will bring yet more regulatory positivity to Bitcoin, particularly in the leading cryptocurrency market in the world, the United States.
In addition, this new Bitcoin exchange will offer futures resolved in Bitcoin rather than in USD, requiring the custody and transfer of the actual Bitcoin asset rather than merely side-betting with fiat. While futures have, according to some expert opinions, put a damper on Bitcoin's pricing, the required custody of the actual Bitcoin asset will increase scarcity and therefore should, at least theoretically, increase demand for the asset in the broader market.
These are major players of highly significant market value, openly stating their enthusiastic support for the global adoption of Bitcoin. Over the coming weeks and months, it might just take one or two more moves of this nature to really start positive momentum in Bitcoin's favour.
sources:
http://fortune.com/longform/nyse-owner-bitcoin-exchange-startup/
https://www.awfullive.site/dam-wall-breaking/