In the latest cryptocurrency news, we have the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its decision to again delay the cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management and its Bitcoin (BTC) exchange traded fund. The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF was officially delayed after SEC published a filing on May 14, where it reveals the decision in detail.
As SEC revealed, the decision on whether to approve or disapprove the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF was the one that was most troubling – which is why they requested for a public comment from the interested parties. The Commission, on top of that, has asked the interested persons to “provide written submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have with the proposal.”
The Bitwise Bitcoin ETF was originally started when the company filed for it in February under the condition that the SEC would reach a decision in 45 days. As the best cryptocurrency news sites then reported, the company’s ETF application differs from the previously proposed Bitcoin ETFs in that it draws prices from a variety of crypto exchanges all in order to represent the market in a better way.
The original filing also shows that the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF would require “regulated third-party custodians to hold its physical bitcoin.” As the application says, “Having a regulated bank or trust company hold physical assets of a fund has been the standard under U.S. fund regulation for the last 80 years, and we believe that is now possible with Bitcoin.”
Despite the tension in the coming altcoin news, this delay also puts some pressure on investors – mostly because the SEC had first delayed the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF application in March. Following this decision, the SEC was obligated to come to a decision on whether to approve the rule change by May 16, 2019.
As today’s filing shows, the public comment period of the Bitwise ETF application will last three weeks after the most recent amendments are published in the Federal Register, followed by two weeks for responses. However, in December of last year, the SEC commissioner Hester Peirce said that a cryptocurrency or Bitcoin ETF is “definitely possible” but could be years away.
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