The chances are the SEC was set to deny it in their October deadline.
The team behind the VanEck-SolidX bitcoin ETF have once again pulled their application ahead of the SEC’s final deadline on 18 October. The odds are overwhelmingly that they made this move because they knew (or strongly suspected) that the SEC would deny it, which would prove a major setback to the project. Instead, by withdrawing their application, they can effectively start the whole process again, learning from the last application and addressing the problems that led to the expected decision.
This isn’t the first time the flagship ETF has been delayed. VanEck pulled their last application shortly before the deadline too, meaning that this is the second time they have gone through almost the entire process, only to back out at the last moment. Overall, it has been a lengthy exercise that has shown no fruit to date — while other mainstream products are going to market ahead of them.
ETF substitute of no interest
Earlier this month VanEck-SolidX launched an ‘ETF-like’ product. This used a loophole in securities law that allowed them to sell shares to institutional investors. While this is far from the retail bitcoin investment vehicle that the ETF would be, it was at least a way to target larger investors. With Bakkt launching next week, there is clearly interest here and the company wants to get in on the action.
Unfortunately for them, there has been almost zero take-up in this particular alternative — which has attracted just $40,000 of investment (4 BTC).
No longer needed
The real lesson VanEck-SolidX may be slowly learning is that there is little interest in an ETF. The public is still not convinced about bitcoin, and in any case regulators are still concerned about the lack of protections in place if they did want to invest through conventional channels; meanwhile, there are other products coming onto the market for institutional investors.
Once upon a time, the ETF was the great hope for the next bitcoin bull market. Now, it’s just an optional extra. It won’t hurt, but the Bitcoin ecosystem doesn’t need it any more.
Article by Moonhub
