Not for the first time, bitcoin investors are holding their breath in the hope regulators will give the green light on a bitcoin-related exchange-traded fund. On August 23, the Securities and Exchange Commission is scheduled to deliver its decision on yet another much-talked-about proposed bitcoin-linked ETF. This time it’s ProShares, which first filed an application in September 2017. According to a regulatory filing, the SEC designated August 23, 2018, as “the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change.”<doc-sep>Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg | Getty Images Every few weeks this summer, bitcoin bulls have gotten a ray of hope from U.S. regulators. This week, that optimism is coming from the possibility a bitcoin exchange-traded fund, or ETF, will be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. What would be the first-ever bitcoin-based ETF is being decided on by the SEC on Thursday, the deadline according to the Federal Register. ProShares, which has about $30 billion in assets under management, filed for two bitcoin ETFs in September. The ETFs plan to track bitcoin futures contracts traded on the Chicago Board of Options Exchange and will trade on NYSE Arca, according to the SEC filing. ProShares declined to comment on the status of its application. Exchange-traded funds track an index or group of assets but trade like stocks. The approval of one could bring in a wave of institutional buyers and, because bitcoin has a fixed supply, theoretically push up prices. Hunter Horsley‏, CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, which submitted its own ETF proposal to the SEC in June, said investors shouldn't read into Thursday's deadline. "An SEC filing hitting a deadline is a procedural reality — it doesn't change the odds of it getting approved, it just draws our attention to it," Horsley said. "Just because we hit the deadline doesn't necessarily give any indication that the SEC has changed its tune." Struggling bitcoin prices jumped ahead of other SEC deadlines for ETFs this summer. The cryptocurrency rallied 20 percent, above $8,000, in late July on rumors that another ETF, proposed by VanEck, would be approved in August. That decision was later postponed by the agency. This week, price moves have been more subtle. The cryptocurrency rose roughly 3 percent to a high of $6,858.61, according to data from CoinDesk. Bitcoin is still down more than 50 percent this year and more than 65 percent from its high near $20,000. Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of BKCM, said investors are getting more cautious and have stopped betting big ahead of these SEC deadlines. "My view is still [that] this does not get approved tomorrow, but I feel we're making large steps and getting closer to it," Kelly said. "There's a better chance this gets approved than anything else." One reason the ProShares ETF might be more appealing to regulators is because it's based on futures trading. The agency has cited the lack of regulation in bitcoin exchanges. But bitcoin futures trade on the SEC-regulated CBOE. Winklevoss twins rejected ProShares is hardly the only group looking to list an ETF. In late July, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a second attempt by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, founders of crypto exchange Gemini, to list the first-ever cryptocurrency ETF on a regulated exchange. The same week, the SEC delayed deliberations on five other bitcoin ETFs filed by NYSE Arca, Inc. Asset manager Bitwise joined the list of hopefuls in July and filed for an ETF that would track a basket of cryptocurrencies. After the Winklevoss rejection, the agency reiterated its mission to prevent fraudulent or manipulative acts or practices and to protect investors. The agency has repeatedly mentioned the possibility of fraud and manipulation of bitcoin, particularly since this is done in a largely unregulated offshore market. The financial watchdog emphasized in the Winklevoss decision that the disapproval did not rest on whether bitcoin or blockchain technology had value as an innovation, or an investment. SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce was the lone dissenter in the agency's decision on the Winklevoss ETF. She published an open letter that bitcoin bulls saw as a positive sign for an eventual approval. "More institutional participation would ameliorate many of the Commission's concerns with the bitcoin market that underlie its disapproval order," Peirce wrote. "I am concerned that the Commission's approach undermines investor protection by precluding greater institutionalization of the bitcoin market." WATCH: Bitcoin bull vs. bitcoin bear<doc-sep>Cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin are on a bull run. BitMex, a major crypto-exchange, went quiet for an hour, allowing the Bitcoin bulls to take over the show. In addition, Thursday's SEC deadline on the ProShares ETF is highly anticipated. The Technical Confluence Indicator shows that the BTC/USD has an initial target of $6,826 which is the convergence of the Bolinger Band one-hour Upper, the Pivot Point one-week Resistance 1, and the Pivot Point one-day Resistance 3. The higher target is $6,940 which is the 50-day Simple Moving Average, a significant level watched by many..A potential break above this level would be another bullish sign. On the downside, Bitcoin has support at around $6,620 where we see the 4h low, the BB 4h-Upper, the SMA 50, and last week's high. Stronger support is at $6,575 which is the meeting point of the Pivot Point one-day Resistance 1 and the BB one-day Middle. All in all, the price of bitcoin is well positioned to take advantage of the current upswing. A lot depends on the SEC decision on ProShares's request for a Bitcoin ETF. Click to see the Full Confluence Indicator Here is how it looks on the tool: The Confluence Detector finds exciting opportunities using Technical Confluences. The TC is a tool to locate and point out those price levels where there is a congestion of indicators, moving averages, Fibonacci levels, Pivot Points, etc. Knowing where these congestion points are located is very useful for the trader, and can be used as a basis for different strategies. Get 24/7 Crypto updates in our social media channels: Give us a follow at @FXSCrypto , and our FXStreet Crypto Trading Telegram channel This tool assigns a certain amount of “weight” to each indicator, and this “weight” can influence adjacents price levels. These weightings mean that one price level without any indicator or moving average but under the influence of two “strongly weighted” levels accumulate more resistance than their neighbors. In these cases, the tool signals resistance in apparently empty areas. Learn more about Technical Confluence More: Latest cryptocurrency news<doc-sep>
After opening in the green Wednesday, bitcoin prices have fallen into the red in afternoon trading in New York. The No. 1 digital currency had spent the better part of the previous two weeks trading inside the $6,000 to $6,500 range, with analysts speculating that it was the calm before the storm. “Potentially the market lull can form the basis for a strong movement in either direction,” wrote Alexander Kuptsikevich, analyst at FxPro. “In these conditions, the importance of the closest support and resistance levels drastically increases. In our case, these levels are $6000 and $6600 respectively. Going out of this tight range can likely strengthen the bitcoin movement.” Read:Bets against bitcoin have doubled since the beginning of August, exchange says It looked as though bitcoin was set to break out of the range when it spiked late Tuesday to a high of $6,858.61, rising as much as $400 in an hour. However, these gains have dissipated and a single bitcoin BTCUSD, -1.21% was last changing hands at $6,358.65, down 1.4% since Tuesday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time of the Kraken crypto exchange. Next ETF decision looming On Thursday, the crypto community will hear the fate of the latest application for a digital asset-related exchange-traded fund. ProShares, which has a proposal for two ETFs with the SEC—one which is a bet on bitcoin and one that is a bet against bitcoin—is seeking to become the first entity to get the green light from lawmakers on such a vehicle. However, in the past month, the SEC has both declined an application from the Winklevoss twins and delayed a decision on the VanEck and SolidX application, which has tempered the hopes of tomorrows proposal passing. Read:These may be the 3 biggest hurdles to a bitcoin ETF After morning rally altcoins fall sharply Altcoins, or smaller coins alternative to bitcoin, continue to underperform the worlds No. 1 digital currency. After opening in the green, all major altcoins traded lower Wednesday. Ether ETHUSD, -1.30% has lost 2.1% to $271.22, Bitcoin Cash BCHUSD, -0.43% is down 2.5% at $514.30, Litecoin LTCUSD, -2.68% is off 2.2% at $54.47 and Ripple’s XRP coin XRPUSD, -3.34% , is trading at 32 cents, down 3.9%. Bitcoin futures finished in the red for the third day running. The Cboe Global Markets Inc.’s September contract US:XBTU8 closed down 1.8% at $6,287.50 while the CME Group Inc. August contract US:BTCQ8 finished down 0.3% at $6,405. CryptoWatch:Check bitcoin and other cryptocurrency prices, performance and market capitalization—all on one