Regulators again delayed a decision on the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust ETF (XBTC).
“The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again postponed its decision on a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to an official document published Thursday, Dec. 6,” reports CoinTelegraph.
In June, ETF issuer VanEck and SolidX, a fintech company engaged in the bitcoin ecosystem, revealed plans for the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust ETF (XBTC). That fund is targeted at institutional investors as it would debut with a share price of $200,000. That product would track an index linked to a group of bitcoin trading desks, possibly allaying some of the SEC’s prior concerns about funds linked to physical bitcoin.
In October, the firms recently met with the SEC, making another push to bring XBTC to market. XBTC would track an index linked to a group of bitcoin trading desks, possibly allaying some of the SEC’s prior concerns about funds linked to physical bitcoin. The SEC released a memorandum regarding the meeting.
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Consistent Denials
Earlier this year, the SEC rejected the applications, preventing the digital currency from gaining more acceptance from investors who are wary of the unregulated exchanges of cryptocurrencies. The SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets rejected applications from investment firms ProShares, Direxion and GraniteShares.
In previously turning back the bitcoin ETF applications, the SEC stated, “Among other things, the Exchange has offered no record evidence to demonstrate that bitcoin futures markets are ‘markets of significant size.’ That failure is critical because, as explained below, the Exchange has failed to establish that other means to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices will be sufficient, and therefore surveillance-sharing with a regulated market of significant size related to bitcoin is necessary.”
“As the proposed rule change was first published in the Federal Register on July 2, 2018, the maximum period of consideration falls 240 days later, on Feb. 27, 2019,” according to CoinTelegraph. “Both VanEck and SolidX firms filed with the SEC to list a Bitcoin-based ETF on June 6. Subsequently in August, the commission delayed its decision on listing the ETF until Sept. 30.”
Previously, the SEC argued that commodities exchange traded products were backed by robust futures markets, a point VanEck and SolidX cite in their favor because bitcoin futures currently trade on two well-known domestic exchanges (CBOE and CME) and more exchanges are mulling launching futures tied to digital currencies.
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