The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has officially disapproved of asset manager VanEck’s Bitcoin exchange-traded fund months after the company submitted its application.
According to a presentation on November 12, The SEC rejected a proposed rule change for the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade shares of VanEck’s Bitcoin (BTC) Trust. Specifically, the SEC said that any rule change in favor of ETF approval would not be “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” or “protect investors and the public interest.”
“The Commission concludes that BZX has failed to meet its burden under the Stock Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchanges Act Section,” the SEC said, adding :
“It is essential that an exchange listing a derivatives product enters into a surveillance exchange agreement with the markets that trade the underlying assets so that the listed exchange has the ability to obtain the information necessary to detect, investigate and deter fraud. and the manipulation of the market as well as violations of the rules of exchange and the laws and federal rules of applicable values ”.
The regulator had a maximum of 240 days to approve or deny the offer after its publication in the Federal Register on March 19, giving the SEC until November 14 to make a decision after the extensions on April 28 and September 8. Industry experts, including Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas, said that The odds of the SEC approving the VanEck fund was less than 1% given its history of denying offers from investment firms with exposure to cryptocurrencies, a prediction that ultimately came true.
“[La SEC] it addresses the inconsistency of not considering CME as a regulated market of significant size in the spot denial, but then approves future ETFs, ”said Balchunas. “It’s a good point, but the SEC doesn’t care. Do not understand. Basically, logic and reason are outweighed by technical legality. “
The impact on the price of Bitcoin caused the crypto asset to drop to $ 62,300 in the last minute before returning to $ 62,976.
This story is developing and will be updated.