The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set Monday, Nov. 5, 2018 as the deadline for public comments on nine previously rejected bitcoin ETFs.
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.
“On October 4, 2018, the Commission issued an Order Scheduling of Statements on Review, setting November 5, 2018 as the date by which any party or other person may file a statement in support of, or in opposition to, the action by the Division pursuant to delegated authority,” said the SEC.
With less than two months left in 2018, market observers are pointing to 2019 as the earliest a bitcoin ETF will come to life in the U.S. Some insist it will take a physically backed fund to garner approval from regulators.
Related: Bitcoin Remains in a Tight Trading Range
Prior Bitcoin ETF Rejections
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.”
“The NYSE Arca Inc. Bitcoin ETF had received 13 comments, out of which most of the comments were against the approval,” reports AMB Crypto. “The comments claimed the market to be manipulative and prone to Ponzi schemes, quoting the example of BitConnect, Kraken, one of the leading exchange platform, and the pump & dump schemes orchestrated on Telegram.”
Bitcoin, the largest digital currency by market value, traded slightly higher Monday, just over the $6,400 level.
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