The latest news in the ongoing saga of the nascent but yet to be implemented Bitcoin ETF comes from Bitwise Asset Management, which, according to reports today, withdrew an application to the SEC for its own ETF fund.
Like other applications, the sticking point has been the lack of what the SEC sees as effective tools to prevent market manipulation, specifically market connections that would allay some of the volatile volatility and ambiguity of pricing.
In explaining the current move, Bitwise said that it does plan to file again in the future after addressing many of the SEC’s questions, questions that were raised in a 112-page SEC response to the proposal.
Now, ironically, BAM has to wait 15 days for the SEC to accept the application’s withdrawal, as per the text of the filing itself:
“The Registrant understands that, pursuant to Rule 477(b) of the Act, this application for withdrawal will be deemed granted at the time filed with the Commission unless, within 15 calendar days after the filing, the Commission notifies the Registrant that the application for withdrawal has not been granted.”
Reporters note that the SEC had already rejected the application, but was reviewing that rejection.
Meanwhile, Wilshire Phoenix is pressing ahead with its own Bitcoin ETF application, insisting that it has the financial mechanism in place to make the ETF compliant with what the SEC wants.
We’ve been waiting for a Bitcoin ETF for years now. Many suggest it would be a total game-changer in Bitcoin transactions, because of the low bar for investor entry, and the ease of buying and selling the exchange traded fund during the market day.
Investors can already buy and sell Bitcoin itself, but an ETF has proven to be an effective market maker for various kinds of alternative assets like precious metals – and it could do a lot for Bitcoin if any one of these proposals ever ultimately passes through the SEC.
