SEC Delays Decision About ARK 21Shares Spot Bitcoin ETF
The approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) has become a controversial topic in the United States. This is because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) does not seem to be willing to approve it, despite many companies submitting their respective ETFs with the regulatory authority.
The ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF had been submitted and the regulator had to give a response, but it decided to postpone the deadline. According to the SEC, the new date for making this decision is set as August 30th.
Extension in date
The SEC announced in a filing on Tuesday that they had decided to extend the date for approving or rejecting the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF. Initially, the decision had to be made by July 16th, but the SEC decided to delay the process by 45 days and now the answer would be given by August 30th.
The ETF’s application had originally been filed by the company with the SEC back in May. The application had then been released for comment on June 1st in the Federal Register. There is a proposed rule change mentioned in the application from a Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) called BZX Exchange.
Ark Invest had entered into a partnership with 21Shares in order to file the application with the SEC for the spot Bitcoin ETF, but the SEC had turned it down earlier this year. But, the current regulations dictate that the decision can be delayed by the regulatory authority and they also have the option of listing the product for 180 days for public comment.
Assessment time
It has been estimated that it is possible for the SEC to delay its decision about the ETF as much as January in the coming year. J. Matthew DeLesDernier, the SEC’s assistant secretary, said that the regulator had decided to extend the date of its decision because it wanted ample time for assessing the rule change that has been proposed in the ETF application.
In addition, it also wants to take a closer look at the issues that have been raised about a spot Bitcoin ETF in order to come to a decision. This could be in light of what Grayscale is doing after its spot Bitcoin ETF application was rejected by the regulatory authority.
ETF rejection
Any investment product that offers people direct crypto exposure has not been given approval by the SEC. But, the regulator has given its approval for products involving Bitcoin futures. Last year in October, it approved the Bitcoin futures ETFs that had been submitted by ProShares and Valkyrie.
However, Grayscale had submitted an application for converting its GBTC into a spot Bitcoin ETF and this was rejected by the SEC last month. A lawsuit was filed against the regulatory authority due to the rejection, as Grayscale claims, the SEC is violating several laws. Donald Verrilli, the legal strategist of the company, said that the SEC was not treating cryptocurrencies in the same way as other investment
