The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is delaying a decision on Direxion’s efforts to launch up to five bitcoin-related ETFs until September.
In public documents revealed on Tuesday, “SEC explains that it is postponing any decision over the possible approval of ETF proposals filed by Direxion Investments in January – one of which is directly related to bitcoin’s price and four of which are based on the cryptocurrency’s price movements,” reports Coin Desk.
Direxion, one of the largest issuers of inverse and leveraged ETFs, is looking to list the Direxion Daily Bitcoin Bear 1X Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.25X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 1.5X Bull Shares, Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bull Shares and Direxion Daily Bitcoin 2X Bear Shares under NYSE Arca rule 8.200-E.
“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,” according to the SEC. “Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,\10\ designates September 21, 2018, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change (File No. SR-NYSEArca-2018-02).”
Previous Bitcoin ETF Efforts
In January, Direxion was one of several of ETF issuers that withdrew ETF filings at the SEC’s request. Thus far, no exchange traded products related to digital currencies have been approved by U.S. regulators.
However, bitcoin prices have recently been surging with some market observers attributing that rebound to increasing momentum for bitcoin ETF approval. Some sources believe regulators will approve a bitcoin ETF before the end of 2018.
In June, ETF sponsors 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.
“Notably, none of the ETF proposals being postponed are from VanEck and SolidX, which are currently under discussion by the wider crypto community. More than 100 comments have been submitted for that proposal, and a decision may occur as soon as next month,” reports Coin Desk.
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