US SEC Postpones Making A Decision On Bitwise BTC ETF Once Again

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States is once again in our crypto news but this time for being lazy after postponing making a decision regarding the bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) of Bitwise.

Bitwise reaches the SEC waiting list after it initially filed for its ETF at the start of this year in January. According to the SEC statute, the Exchange Act of 1934 says that the regulator can postpone the decision-making process by approximately 45 days on each specific filing. This period of 45 days can be extended up to 90 days if the SEC finds good enough reasons to do so.  

In their official statement, the SEC says:

‘’The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take such action on the proposed rule so that it has sufficient time… Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, designates May 16, 2019 as the date by which the Commission either approves or disapproves.’’

Investors are starting to believe that the SEC is anti-crypto. First, the VanEck SolidX BTC ETF was pending at the desks of the regulator for months and the commission hasn’t even explained their position on the issue. Both of the companies submitted their ETF application two years ago in March and received a really straightforward answer: no.

The decision regarding VanEck SolidX proposal was supposed to happen in August last year but after the postponing decision, the deadline was pushed to September. In September another decision pushed the deadline to December and there is still no BTC ETF despite VanEck’s efforts.

On the other hand, we have the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) who claims they are not anti-crypto after the Commissioner Dan Berkovitz commented:

‘’The CFTC is pro-innovation. We do not have an anti-crypto or an anti-blockchain attitude. We are now out to get new technology. We are out to get the bad guys.’’

However, the CFTC also stalled on the Bakkt related application and the SEC is no different. Both of the agencies are too blind to see that these applications could start a multi-million dollar inflow in the American infrastructure.

The SEC is likely to hold off on Bitwise and other ventures who aim to boost the national economy since the regulator claims they are worried of manipulation and other fraudulent activities that might come out.