Tension is mounting towards the all-important deadline for approving or disapproving an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) on Bitcoin. The request by Direxion has been postponed from the original deadline back in July. The SEC said it needed more time and set September 21st as the deadline.

September 21st is here, and cryptocurrencies are getting nervous. Bitcoin experienced a flash crash on Wednesday, a move that sent it down to $6,100 before it hit $6,500. The choppy trading was attributed to a hack in a Japanese exchange but may have been an act of positioning ahead of the event.

Thursday already sees a more positive tone. The BTC/USD is trading above $6,400, slightly higher on the day. Are Bitcoin bulls cautiously optimistic about an approval? The recent appointment of crypto-friendly Elad Roisman as an SEC Commissioner may provide hope.

The ETH/USD is also on the up, trading around $211, marginally higher. Ethereum seems to feel the tension after long days of high volatility that saw it whipsawed to the downside before it shot higher and recaptured the $200 mark.

The most exciting movement is seen in Ripple. The XRP/USD shot higher by over 11% at pixel time and trades above $0.36. Ripple was the darling of cryptocurrencies in December 2018 but has tumbled some 90% peak to trough. Is it finding its feet amid expectations for an ETF approval?

Movements in recent months have not all been related to ETF’s. Nevertheless, there is a good reason why digital coins reacted the way they did to rejections or delays in such decisions. An ETF enables mainstream investors and speculators to jump into cryptos. While the craze seemed to have moved on and into Tilray and other cannabis stocks, cryptos would undoubtedly benefit from an ETF as a seal of legitimacy.