SEC Drags Feet on Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund
The SEC has once again postponed approving Bitcoin ETF, now for the second time this year, which is a Bitcoin security similar to a stock whose value is a percentage of Bitcoin’s spot value. The first postponement came in March after Bitwise and VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust put in proposals for offering such products to their clientele. Now the SEC is putting off proposals from again from Bitwise and NYSE Arca, which first filed for approval of ETF assets back in January. However, the first filing for approval dates to last year when the Chicago Board Options Exchange first raised the question of offering ETF.
While claiming to still be researching the possibility of regulating Bitcoin ETF, it is very likely the SEC is waiting for the market to mature before it releases such a volatile asset onto American investors. However, it seems this is what investors want, as there are now 4 agencies, both for retail and institutional investors, that are seeking approval for Bitcoin ETF on their platforms.
ETF expert and Managing Director of ETF.com, Dave Nadig, is still optimistic in regards to the SEC approving these assets, although he admits that it will take time as SEC will do a deep dive into Bitcoin itself due to its comparatively young age:
“Based on the comments we saw last week around one of these filings, it’s clear the SEC is still in information-gathering mode.”
However, Nadig does believe it is reasonable to assume that Bitcoin ETF will be approved by the end of 2019.
Today the SEC listed a 14 question public filing in an effort to learn more about what the public thinks in regards to Bitcoin ETF, although in this case the public will turn out to be very high profile figures in the cryptocurrency world, as was the case for the previous public filing. The SEC wishes to do all it can to protect potential investors from an asset it has little understanding of.
“The Commission is instituting proceedings to allow for additional analysis of the proposed rule change’s consistency with Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be ‘designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade,’ and ‘to protect investors and the public interest.’”
