Finance Magnates reported earlier this week that the SEC rejected another round of Bitcoin ETFs this past Wednesday. Now, the commission says that it will place the three applications (from Proshares, GraniteShares, and Direxion) under review. It’s not yet clear when the review will be completed.
The announcement of the review was made on Wednesday by SEC commissioner Hester Peirce, who explained that “the Commission (Chairman and Commissioners) delegates some tasks to its staff. When the staff acts in such cases, it acts on behalf of the Commission. The Commission may review the staff's action, as will now happen here.”
Yesterday's staff orders disapproving SRO rules related to a number of bitcoin ETFs are stayed pending Commission review. See, for example: https://t.co/Ky9Z8t1E4q
— Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) August 23, 2018
Notably, Peirce dissented from the SEC’s decision regarding the Bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss last month “on the basis she felt doing so stifled innovation”, according to Reuters.
SEC secretary Brent Fields also wrote in a letter addressed to David De Gregorio, NYSE Group senior counsel: "This letter is to notify you that, pursuant to Rule 43 I of the Commission's Rules of Practice, 17 CFR 20 I .43 1, the Commission will review the delegated action. In accordance with Rule 431 (e), the August 22 order is stayed until the Commission orders otherwise."
Will Dreams of a Bitcoin ETF Ever Come True?
The SEC is set to announce its decision on another Bitcoin ETF application on September 1, this one from Van Eck and SolidX. Despite the fact that their application has been rejected by the SEC on two previous occasions, some analysts believe that the third time could be the charm.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Reuters
VP of Hexa Trading Group Ilan Sterk wrote in a Medium post that because Van Eck manages$46 billion in assets and is an “award-winning, widely recognized investment and money manager” outside of the crypto sphere, the ETF may be on its way to approval. He also noted that Van Eck’s extensive insurance may put regulators at ease.
Still, others are skeptical. In an exclusive email to Finance Magnates, Bitcoin IRA founder Chris Kline wrote that “while I don’t believe these whales will have a predominant foothold on the industry in the future, I do believe that the SEC’s caution and oversight is necessary and legitimate in order to fully protect customers as the industry stands right now.”
The SEC's letters to the three companies were made available on Scribd by CoinDesk.
