Bitcoin Dips After SEC Says Recent ETF Applications Are Inadequate
Bitcoin fell 2% on Friday after the SEC reportedly said recent ETF applications are inadequate.
BlackRock and Fidelity recently filed for bitcoin spot ETFs, boosting hope that an approval was near.
Applicants can revise their filings and resubmit with the SEC's feedback, according to The Wall Street Journal.
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Bitcoin coin prices fell as much as 5% on Friday after the Securities and Exchange Commission said recent ETF applications from BlackRock and Fidelity were inadequate, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.
BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree and other traditional asset managers filed applications with the SEC to launch a spot bitcoin ETF, ginning up hope among investors that an approval could finally be near.
But Friday's report suggested that approval of a spot bitcoin ETF still faces some hurdles, even after the regulatory agency approved a 2x leveraged bitcoin futures ETF.
The SEC told the CBOE and Nasdaq, which filed the bitcoin ETF applications on behalf of BlackRock and Fidelity, that they weren't "sufficiently clear and comprehensive," according to the report, which cited people familiar with the matter.
But the SEC would also welcome revisions and updates from the asset managers and an eventual refiling of their applications, taking into account the agency's feedback.
The price of bitcoin had surged above the $30,000 level earlier this month after the BlackRock and Fidelity filings reignited the race for the first spot bitcoin ETF.
On Friday, bitcoin had briefly dipped below $30,000 before rebounding, falling less than 2% and holding onto the $30,000 level, at $30,278.
The crypto industry has for years longed for a US bitcoin ETF, which would directly track the price of bitcoin and allow investors to gain exposure to the asset class without buying bitcoin on a crypto exchange and storing them, taking out a lot of the hassle for everyday investors.
Since at least 2017, the SEC has been rejecting bitcoin ETF applications for various reasons, including the fear that they were vulnerable to fraud and market manipulation. However, the SEC has approved various ETFs that own bitcoin futures, not the underlying coin itself.
Part of the SEC's concern with the latest bitcoin ETF applications was that they didn't provide enough information about the "surveillance-sharing agreement" they would implement to ensure that the ETF was not susceptible to fraud.
The CBOE said it plans to revise and resubmit its bitcoin ETF filing, which would push back a potential approval by at least another week after the SEC receives the application, according to the WSJ report.
Source: Markets Insider
