Bitcoin ETF UPDATE with VanEck's Gabor Gurbacs: 'Last chance mid-fall'

Talk of an ETF has hit fever pitch within the past year, and as the hype starts to die down somewhat the chance of approval appear to be growing ever more. Chepicap caught up with Gabor Gurbacs the digital asset strategist for VanEck, who currently have their Bitcoin ETF under review by the SEC. Gurbacs reveals the last chance for approval is in mid-fall, and that Bitcoin doesn't really need an ETF... 

VanEck has been trying for over a year to bring a physical Bitcoin ETF to market, working alongside financial services company, SolidX, in order to make the seemingly impossible a reality.
 Final chance
Speaking on the current status of the proposed Bitcoin ETF, Gurbacs relayed that the SEC’s final decision would be “mid-fall,” giving VanEck the necessary time to iron out any outstanding issues the regulator might trip up on.
Regarding the actual chances of the ETF approval Gurbacs remained fairly tight-lipped:
“It's like the billion-dollar question or more … I can’t directly speak to a filing that is in actively in registration. I think the approval of a Bitcoin ETF is serving the public interest … there is liquidity benefits, there is custody benefits, there is regulatory and tax benefits of having an ETF, so I think it’s in the regulators best interest to approve the ETF.”
Speaking on the SEC’s concerns of a lack of regulatory oversight, and the capacity of market manipulation Gurbacs remained unperturbed:
“It’s a new market and there are tools in place to make sure the markets are not manipulated … we work with spot trading platform, or ‘crypto exchanges,’ and put some surveillance on those platforms … so I think we have all the answers for the questions the regulators have.”
 Will Bitcoin skyrocket like gold?
When asked if Bitcoin might see a similar price boost as gold did following its first ETF Gurbacs gave a fairly diplomatic answer:
“An ETF has the potential to attract institutions and participants that cannot be in this market today for regulatory reasons, so I think there is some kind of impact there, but I think the main thing is accepting Bitcoin into the mainstream financial system. It’s not really the price impact that matters, but the fact that the asset is alive and accepted.”
And we asked then the real billion dollar question, does Bitcoin really need an ETF?:
“No Bitcoin doesn’t need an ETF” stated Gurbacs, “I’m a Bitcoin fan and I think Bitcoin is in itself a really interesting technology. Similarly, gold didn’t need an ETF to exist for 7000 years, but an ETF has unique benefits, for instance, liquidity through the authorized participant market, proper tax documents … 95% of people don’t know how to hold their keys, so it’s an easier vehicle to provide access to Bitcoin itself.”
However, for Gurbacs this is just the start, eventually, he says the financial system will be “enriched” by the unique quality of what Bitcoin brings such as key management, and having the right to your own assets:
“We need to walk before we run and an ETF is walking before we would run to a completely new world”