US SEC Futher Postpones Decision on Grayscale and Bitwise' s Spot Bitcoin ETF

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC ) has announced the delay of decisions on physical (spot) Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) proposals submitted by Grayscale Investments LLC and Bitwise asset management Group.

On Wednesday, December 15, the SEC published a notice to announce that it has another 45 days to assess the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust proposals. Now, it will be on February 1 and February 6 respectively for the agency to determine whether to approve or disapprove Bitwise and Grayscale applications.

"The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the  proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and any comments received," according to the two notices from SEC.

Bitwise filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF on October 14 in order to provide direct exposure to physical Bitcoin rather than derivatives like Bitcoin futures or other indirect exposure. Despite having launched several such products in the United States, the business canceled its own Bitcoin futures ETF proposal in November.

Meanwhile, Grayscale, the world's largest digital currency asset management firm which manages $45.6 billion of assets in total, filed an application to have its popular Bitcoin Trust converted to an ETF on October 19.

According to the SEC, a long-stated concern is that spot Bitcoin ETFs violate securities rules as the market is prone to fraud, manipulation and abuse. "I'm comfortable with futures-based ETFs because Bitcoin futures trade on highly regulated exchanges. However, that is not the case with physical Bitcoin ETFs," stated the SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler.

​Fazzaco has learned that the SEC has approved ProShares, Valkyrie, and VanEck's Bitcoin futures ETFs in late October this year, but denied the approval of VanEck's physical Bitcoin ETF in November.