Proponents of a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) will have to wait much longer, as the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected another nine Bitcoin ETF filings, according to a news release by the SEC on August 22, 2018.
No Bitcoin ETFs for Now
According to a CNBC report the SEC has rejected the ETF proposals filed by ProShares – an ETF provider, GraniteShares and five leveraged and inverse ETFs from Direxion.
The securities watchdog cited market manipulation and fraudulent practices as its reasons to reject the ETF applications of the firms.
The agency has made it clear that its decision to reject the proposals of these firms does not necessarily mean it does not see bitcoin or distributed ledger technology as a valuable investment portfolio or investment.
“The Commission emphasizes that it’s disapproval does not rest on an evaluation of whether bitcoin, or blockchain technology more generally, has utility or value as an innovation or an investment. The SEC stated, adding “Rather, the Commission is disapproving this proposed rule change because the Exchange has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Act.”
SolidX VanEck ETF Still in the Pipeline
While quite many firms have applied for a bitcoin ETF in recent times, to date, none of these companies have been lucky enough to pass the SEC test.
Back in July, reports emerged that the Securities and Exchange Commission had rejected the exchange-traded fund filing of the Winklevoss twins, over concerns that the cryptocurrency market is still very much unregulated.
“The record before the commission indicates that a substantial majority of Bitcoin trading occurs on unregulated venues,” the SEC declared at the time.
It’s worth noting that the Commission has set a September 30, 2018 date for a decision on the SolidX VanECK ETF filing.
Whether the result would be positive remains to be seen.
Mixed Reactions
As stated in the SEC filing, comments it received from observers in the cryptospace revealed that not everyone is entirely in support of a Bitcoin ETF launch.
“One commenter states that commencing an ETP without allowing the market to adjust to the cash-settled futures products would be akin to ‘putting the cart before the horse’ and seems to be an attempt to appease institutional investors,” the SEC filing read.
In related news, on August 23, 2018, Blockchainreporter informed that bitcoin advocate, Andreas Antonopoulos had declared he’s not in support of Bitcoin ETFs as the venture is against the decentralization ethos of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
