The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust may be inching closer to becoming the first bitcoin ETF listed on a major stock exchange, but that potentially historic date could be further off than some might think.

Announced three years ago by investors Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust continues to draw attention, despite delays. As it would trade baskets of shares tied to real bitcoins, retail investors have long seen its approval as a boon for the price of bitcoin and the ecosystem as a whole.

It turns out, though, that even in spite of imminent deadlines that suggest approval may be forthcoming, a real decision may still be months away.

After spending two years trying to get listed on Nasdaq, the effort picked up momentum in June when the Winklevoss brothers filed to move their application to the BATS exchange. Within two weeks of that change, SEC assistant secretary Jill Peterson opened a comment period as part of the approval process.

A 45-day period that started with that filing is set to elapse at the end of this week.

But according to analysts, the publication of the form on the Federal Register didn't kick off a 45 day "clock," but a 240-day countdown during which the SEC has any number of options.

ARK Invest analyst Chris Burniske told CoinDesk:

"It's a long and winding road and there's a big pot of gold at the end of it and we have no idea when we're going to get there."

The clock

According to the notice, the SEC had an initial period of 45 days to approve or disapprove the filing. At this point, the financial regulator had the option to expand the period another 45 days, and after that, another 90 days.

At any time during this total 180-day period, the SEC staff have the authority to approve the rule-change that would lead to the trust's formal listing. But that's just the beginning of the "clock" analysts say is ticking.

If the SEC staff are unable to reach a decision by the end of the 180-day period, there's another 60-day extension during which the request may still be approved by the commissioners themselves.

In this case, that's exactly what Burniske expects will happen, contrary to the sense on social media that the decision was imminent.

Speculation about the approval date first emerged on Reddit shortly after the initial filing. In the post, the commenters suggested a decision on the ETF itself should have happened as early as yesterday, 22nd August.

Delays and deadlines

However, since the form wasn't actually filed with the Federal Register until 14th July – six days after the SEC filing — the actual first deadline is 28th August.

If the SEC is unable to reach a decision by that date, it could extend this particular deadline to 12th October.

But Burniske says he expects the clock will tick down to a commissioner decision months from now. The decision is just too "contentions," he says, given the newness of blockchain-based assets.

The fact that the SEC is currently reviewing multiple digital currency applications, and the uncertainty following Bitfinex's decision to try to recoup the losses of a $65m hack by selling securities, he said, will also likely influence the decision.

"The SEC will allow this to go forward when they feel comfortable and not a second before," he said. "It would be a gold seal of approval for the birth of bitcoin as a new asset class."

Bitcoin boost

Some may question the importance of the ETF, as technically, anyone who wants to invest in bitcoin already can.

But for institutional investors, there's frequently restrictions that they can only buy registered investment securities, according to Spencer Bogart, a bitcoin researcher at Needham & Company and a former analyst at ETF.com.