US SEC Denied the VanEck’s Proposed Spot Bitcoin ETF

Fazzaco learned that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had denied VanEck’s Proposed Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). SEC worries over the potential that fraud in the crypto market will reach regulated exchanges and other factors like ‘fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.’

SEC denied the application for the VanEck Bitcoin ETF on concerns over “fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” in the markets where bitcoin is traded. Its decision was based on a need “to protect investors and the public interest”.

CMC Markets Connect's Andrew Wood Talks How Volatility Indicator Helps Institutional Clients​

“Among the concerns the SEC raised in the disapproval order included possible ‘wash trading,’ when the same institution is on both sides of the trade, generating extra fees for minimal risk; potential price manipulation by whales who dominate bitcoin; and possible “manipulative activity involving the purported ‘stablecoin’ Tether,” the Financial Times noted.

“We are obviously disappointed in today’s update from the SEC declining approval of our physical bitcoin ETF. We continue to believe that investors should have the ability to gain exposure to bitcoin through a regulated investment product and that a non-futures ETF structure is the superior approach,” Jan van Eck, Chief Executive of VanEck, commented.