As per an official order published on 7th August, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision about the listing and trading of Bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds) to 30th September. The Commission stated that it’s giving itself some more time to consider the proposed change in the rule.
This proposed rule change was filed by Cboe BZX Exchange Inc. on 20th June 2018 for SEC to allow the listing and trading of Bitcoin ETFs issued by VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust. The application was filed under the category of commodity-based trust shares. The Commision then published the proposed change in the Federal Register for further deliberation.
The recent order by SEC states that it has received over 1,300 comments on the proposed rule change regarding Bitcoin ETFs as of 6th August 2018. To approve or disapprove the same, SEC requires some more time as it will be a unique rule change in the US financial landscape.
“Section 19(b)(2) of the Act5 provides that within 45 days of the publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change, or within such longer period up to 90 days as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding,” stated the order. The Commission is extending the 45-day period to consider the decision of approving or disapproving the proposed rule change.
It is not the first time the SEC has delayed a Bitcoin ETF related decision. It was just last month when the agency postponed its decision regarding Direxion’s application for the same until 21st September. It has also earlier rejected BZX’s appeal to list and trade Winklevoss Trust shares.
Bitcoin price was recorded at USD 6,524 at press time, a significant drop after crossing the USD 7,000 mark on 7th August. “If you were surprised that the SEC extended yesterday or were surprised by the drop in price when it happened you should seriously reevaluate whether you should be trading Crypto,” tweeted Ran Neu-Ner, host at CNBC Cryptotrader.
