The chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has not yet taken office, but fund companies are already preparing for Bitcoin ETFs

Issuers in the $5.9 trillion U.S. ETF industry are racing to win approval to launch the country’s first bitcoin fund, but face a big hurdle: uncertainty over where regulators stand.

At least four companies have submitted bitcoin ETF applications that are awaiting approval, with WisdomTree Investments being the latest to file last week. The other three companies are VanEck Associates Corp., NYDIG Asset Management and Valkyrie Digital Assets.

The chances of them getting approved are completely unknown. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected all previous applications, but since then, two Bitcoin ETFs have been launched in Canada, institutional acceptance of cryptocurrencies has snowballed, and perhaps most importantly, the leadership of the SEC has changed.

Gary Gensler, the nominee for the next SEC chairman, is known to be more open to cryptocurrencies. This has led the ETF industry to place high hopes on him, and companies have begun submitting applications even before he takes office, although the SEC is unlikely to make any major policy changes without him taking office.

"These funds are preparing ahead of time," said Todd Rosenbluth, head of ETF research at CFRA Research. "They're preparing their documents ahead of time, and once the SEC approves a bitcoin ETF, these asset managers will be ready to go."