Key Takeaways
- SEC will delay its decision on a proposed rule change to list VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF till October 11, 2022.
- SEC rejected VanEck’s proposal for a spot Bitcoin ETF, citing investor protection.
Leading Global investment manager VanEck is again forced to wait for the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve its latest Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.
SEC stated that it would delay its decision on a proposed rule change to list VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF for another 45 days, i.e., till October 11, 2022.
“The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein.”, SEC filing reads.
The regulatory body also added that it “had not received any comments on the proposed rule change” since calling for feedback on July 13.
The Commission has the right to either disapprove the proposed rule change, approve the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.
This is not the first time SEC has rejected/delayed VanEck’s application. In November 2021, Sec rejected VanEck’s proposal for a spot Bitcoin ETF, citing investor protection. SEC has constantly been rejecting multiple applications for a spot-based Bitcoin ETF.
Spot bitcoin ETF applications are uniformly filed under the “33 Act” and have been dismissed without exception by the SEC as being too risky for investors for various reasons.
Issuers of spot bitcoin ETFs rejected by the SEC in recent months have included Fidelity, SkyBridge, Valkyrie, and Grayscale, among others. In rejecting over a dozen proposals for spot bitcoin ETFs over the past year, the commission had focused on a lack of surveillance-sharing agreements with a regulated market of significant size relating to the underlying assets.
However, SEC has approved a few futures-based Bitcoin ETFs in the recent past. The SEC recently approved Valkyrie’s XBTO Bitcoin Futures Fund, NYSE Arca, and Teucrium to issue a future exchange-traded bitcoin fund.
