In a confirmation of regulatory uncertainty, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just officially announced the further delay of bitcoin's most anticipated exchange-traded fund (ETF).
VanEck, SolidX, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) will need to wait until at least February 2019 to see their Bitcoin ETF approved.
Details of the Bitcoin ETF delay
The SEC has decided to postpone a proposed rule change, allowing for the trade of VanEck-SolidX's bitcoin shares, according to an SEC notice today.
Earlier this year in June, the CBOE suggested a change in SEC guidelines, allowing VanEck-SolidX bitcoin shares to be listed and traded as Commodity-Based Trust Shares on CBOE's BZX exchange.
Two months later, the SEC stated they needed more time to review the situation. September saw the same fate, as the ruling body pushed the decision further into the future.
The most recent September delay surfaced doubts from the SEC on the topic of bitcoin manipulation and maturity.
In a September brief, Bloomberg stated -
"The SEC is seeking views on market manipulation -- including whether Bitcoin is less susceptible to manipulation than other commodities that back exchange-traded products -- as well as surveillance".As of the December 6th notice, over 1600 responses have been sent to the SEC regarding the rule change in question.
The notice gave no other reason for the delay, except the following -
"The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider this proposed rule change".The SEC will approve or deny the rule change on February 27, 2019.
Anticipation
The SEC has received many bitcoin ETF applications this year, approving none of them. Back in August, CNBC reported on nine bitcoin ETF rejections.The crypto community remains hopeful, looking for a bitcoin ETF to turn the market around. Such a financial instrument would allow for larger market players to gain significant exposure to crypto assets if they so choose.
Popular crypto influencer Nicolas Merten, aka Data Dash, tweeted about the importance of a bitcoin ETF, and its impact on the crypto space.
https://twitter.com/nicholas_merten/status/1021769251974078464
- nicholas_merten
Although the crypto space has remained hopeful, the SEC has made it clear they do not think the crypto market is ready for such a product right now.
Last week Crypto Insider reported on comments from SEC chairman Jay Clayton on the subject. “What investors expect is that trading in the commodity that underlies that ETF makes sense and is free from the risk of manipulation", Clayton said. “It’s an issue that needs to be addressed before I would be comfortable.”
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Originally posted on Crypto Insider : https://cryptoinsider.com/sec-delays-bitcoin-etf-february/