After avoiding to make the decision last November, the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed it is rejecting Cathie Wood’s latest proposal to list a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States. Wood’s Ark and its partner 21Shares have been trying to register such a fund for over a year without success.
SEC Rejects ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF
The Securities and Exchange Commission revealed on Thursday, January 26th, that it is rejecting a spot Bitcoin ETF proposed by Cathie Wood’s Ark and the Swiss investment-products issuer 21Shares. The fund was to be listed on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
According to the SEC, the exchange “fails to establish that other means to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices will be sufficient”, and the “exchange must enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size because such agreements detect and deter fraudulent and manipulative activity.” As a result, the Commission reached the decision to reject the listing of the exchange-traded fund.
The SEC already rejected one proposal to list the fund in April 2022 and has postponed reaching a decision several times, most recently in mid-November. The Commission has, however, approved several other types of BTC ETFs, and the first one to see a launch in the US reached a $1 billion valuation in its first 24 hours.
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US Yet to See Its First Spot Bitcoin ETF
While Canada and Australia have had spot Bitcoin ETFs for some time, and Brazil joined their ranks in November, the US has yet to see an approval for such a fund. Apart from Ark and 21Shares’ multiple attempts, Firms like WisdomTree and One River also attempted to list a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund and also met with rejection.
Last year’s “crypto winter” also saw the delisting of Australia’s oldest BTC ETF and, in the United States, Valkyrie announced the termination of its fund. Perhaps the most dramatic turn of events, however, came from Grayscale’s attempt to turn its GBTC into an ETF.
After the Commission rejected Grayscale’s bid last year, the firm decided to fight back against SEC’s decision, and oral arguments in the case are scheduled to commence in early March. It also revealed it would appeal the lawsuit in case the court rejected the case.
What will it take for the SEC to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
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