The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ) delayed its decision on Monday on whether to allow the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds or ETFs from WisdomTree and One River.
The news comes after some notices were published by the watchdog on its website today. The SEC will decide whether to approve or disapprove a proposal to list and trade the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust by May 15 and a proposal to list and trade the One River Carbon Neutral Bitcoin Trust by June 2.
The SEC delayed Grayscale's proposed ETF in February, which is another spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. In a statement released on February 4, the SEC is concerned about how Grayscale will fend manipulation and fraud. Grayscale is the largest digital asset manager.
Earlier in 2021, Grayscale asked to convert its GBPTC shares into a spot bitcoin ETF. This is the second time the SEC is delaying their decision to Grayscale's application. The SEC has already rejected several ETF applications from WisdomTree, Krypton, Fidelity and SkyBridge. In October 2021, the SEC approved 2 bitcoin future-based funds: ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF and Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
No Bitcoin ETF Approved Yet
The SEC, to this date, has not approved a spot bitcoin ETF. However, Fidelity was able to launch its spot bitcoin ETF in Canada, Fidelity Advantage Bitcoin ETF (FBTC). In addition, Fidelity has filed a new application in the US for a Fidelity Metaverse ETF.
Some suggest the SEC is rejecting the ETFs due to upcoming regulations in the crypto industry. However, the Securities and Exchange Commissioner, Hester Peirce said the SEC might not publish new rules for cryptocurrency exchanges this year.
The SEC may propose to reveal who the cryptocurrency's creators are, the amount of tokens that will be minted, and complete transparency of the code. This will be tied in with anti-fraud rules.
