The SEC has deferred a decision on a Bitcoin ETF announced by SolidX Bitcoin and investment firm VanEck. The market was expecting a decision on SolidX Bitcoin Trust shares, scheduled for September 21, but the regulator decided to ask for more feedback on this issue.
According to a document published by the SEC on September 20, the regulator needs to clarify a number of issues, including the risks of market manipulation, surveillance and proposed valuation methods. In general, the next refusal differs little from the previous ones. Same questions and reasons not to greenlight ETFs.
In early August, the SEC announced that it was postponing its decision on ETFs until September 21 and 30.
The delay has caused a lot of disappointment in the part of the crypto community that believes that ETFs will revive stagnant Bitcoin markets. Indeed, positive price movements were observed in the days leading up to the Bitcoin ETF decisions. This time, news of the delay does not seem to have had any negative impact on the price of Bitcoin. Traders have likely come to terms with the idea that it is impossible to break through the concrete wall of the SEC.
But it is possible that such delays are some kind of sign that the SEC is slowly warming up to the idea of a Bitcoin ETF. Of course, delays are more promising than outright refusals, of which there were many. Most recently, the SEC denied an application for a Bitcoin ETF submitted by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.
Several weeks ago, the SEC also said it would reconsider some of the denials it had made regarding applications for Bitcoin ETF since the beginning of this year. The agency continues to cite the unregulated nature of markets as the main reason for refusing to approve applications. Meanwhile, the CBOE exchange claims that Bitcoin is “less susceptible to manipulation” than other markets. In fact, “in many cases, the Bitcoin market tends to be less susceptible to manipulation than the equity, fixed income and commodity futures markets,” the exchange states in its comments.
Bitcoin used to be a trendsetter in the cryptocurrency markets, but that is no longer the case as altcoin markets have been more active in recent weeks. The market is currently fairly stable, despite some troubling news from regulators.
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