The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has told leading gold fund management firm VanEck that it will not review the firm’s registration statement for a Bitcoin ETF. The “VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF” seeks to invest in U.S. exchange-traded bitcoin derivative products, which are currently unavailable. In response to the SEC’s request, the firm withdrew its application.
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SEC’s Policy
On Wednesday, the SEC published a letter by Matthew Babinsky, Assistant General Counsel at VanEck, requesting the “withdrawal of Post-Effective Amendment No. 2,562,” which is the registration statement for the VenEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF. The letter read:
On a call with the [SEC] staff on September 20, 2017, the staff expressed the view that it is the Commission’s policy to not review a registration statement for a fund where the underlying instruments in which the fund intends to primarily invest are not yet available.
No U.S. Exchange-Traded Bitcoin Derivatives
Currently, there are no U.S. exchange-traded bitcoin derivative products on the market.
While there are no U.S. exchange-traded bitcoin derivative products, a few traditional fund managers have already filed with the SEC to list and trade Bitcoin ETFs based on these instruments. VanEck Vectors Bitcoin Strategy ETF is among them. Last month, Rex Shares LLC filed registration statements for two Bitcoin ETFs; the Rex Bitcoin Strategy ETF and the Rex Short Bitcoin Strategy ETF. Another filing was made last Wednesday by Proshare Capital Management LLC with the Commission to offer both Proshares Bitcoin ETF and Proshares Short Bitcoin ETF.
SEC’s Request
Babinsky’s letter also stated that:
The [SEC] staff requested that the Trust withdraw the Amendment until such time as the underlying instruments in which the fund intends to primarily invest (i.e., bitcoin futures contracts) become available for investment. In response to the staff’s request, we are requesting withdrawal of the Amendment.
Moreover, news.Bitcoin.com recently reported on the world’s leading derivatives marketplace CME Group deciding not to follow through with their original plans to list and trade bitcoin futures.
What do you think of the SEC’s action? Let us know in the comments below.
Images via Shutterstock, VanEck, LedgerX, and CBOE.
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The post SEC Will Not Review ETFs Based on Exchange Traded Bitcoin Derivatives Until They Exist appeared first on Bitcoin News.
via Kevin Helms
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