Most of these so-called "institutional investors" wanting to partake in an ETF simply don't want to lose money. In a completely regulated environment and investment, they have less room to fail and be gamed on, whereas in directly participating in the bitcoin market, unexpected movements happen every so often which makes it a lot riskier compared to ETFs. As anyone who are completely versed in their own game and have more chances of winning, why would they deviate from their custom just to make a little more money but risk a lot in the process?
And is the grounds of possible manipulations on which the proposals has been rejected a solid argument?
And lastly would bitcoin ETF approval herald the bull run as most people believe?
I don't really dig up much on the verdicts of rejected ETFs but there are some news that I've read in which the SEC have declined some ETFs since they can still be avenues for manipulation. thus
potentially promoting fraud and money laundering in the process. As for ETF approvals being the main catalyst of the next bull run, that will be highly improbable as the interest on them have already faded.