The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has turned down another attempt to launch a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund proposed by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest and global crypto ETF provider 21Shares. In a newly issued order, the SEC is rejecting a proposal that would allow the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF to be listed on […]
The post U.S. SEC Once Again Rejects ARK Invest’s Proposal for a Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
Grayscale had expected it wouldn’t be able to voice arguments until the second quarter, and is calling the quicker timeline “welcome news.”
A United States appeals court is set to hear the oral arguments relating to Grayscale Investment’s lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its decision to deny Grayscale’s Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to a court motion filed on Jan. 23, both sides will present their arguments at the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on March 7, at 9:30 am local time.
Oral arguments are spoken presentations delivered by attorneys summarizing why their clients should win the case. Each party in the case takes turns directly speaking and answering questions from the judge and is given equal amounts of time to do so.
Mark your calendars. Oral Arguments in our case challenging SEC decision to deny $GBTC conversion to a spot #bitcoin ETF was just scheduled for
— Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) January 24, 2023
*Tuesday, March 7, 2023 @ 930 AM EST*. pic.twitter.com/PMQVUsebMO
In a tweet on Jan. 24, Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said the newly filed motion was “welcome news” as they were previously anticipating oral arguments to be scheduled “as soon as Q2.”
The composition of the argument panel in the Grayscale case will be revealed on Feb. 6, 30 days prior to the date of the oral argument, while the amount of time for the argument will be set in a separate order, according to the motion.
Grayscale initiated its lawsuit against the SEC in June after the regulator rejected its application to convert its $12 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based ETF.
Earlier this month, Grayscale filed a reply brief with the D.C. Court of Appeals, claiming the SEC acted arbitrarily in treating spot-traded ETFs differently from futures-traded products and that the SEC exceeded its authority when it denied Grayscale’s application for a Bitcoin ETF.
Related: SEC’s ‘one-dimensional’ approach is slowing Bitcoin progress: Grayscale CEO
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein reiterated a similar point during an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 24, stating:
“It’s important to remind the role that regulators like the SEC play when it comes to investors. They’re not here to tell investors what to or what not to invest in. They’re here to ensure all the proper disclosures are made [...] so [investors] are aware of all the risks associated.”
"Crypto is here to stay. Regulators are not here to tell investors what to and what not to invest in. They're here to ensure all the proper disclosures are made...so investors understand all the risks associated," says @Grayscale @sonnenshein. "That's really the role of the SEC." pic.twitter.com/k30y6DewBe
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 24, 2023
Sonnenshein said they were “certainly expecting” a decision from the courts regarding its case against the SEC in “Q2 or Q3 of this year.”
“The frustrating thing for investors and certainly the Grayscale team is that we’re actually a business that was born in the U.S., made use of existing U.S. regulatory frameworks to bring crypto to investors in a safe and compliant way.”
“Meeting with both houses yesterday and today, what we’re really hearing [...] is that had the SEC already approved this spot-Bitcoin ETF [...] a lot of the recent investor harm we’ve seen in crypto would’ve been prevented,” he added.
Crypto hedge fund Grayscale is telling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that its denial of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is “illogical.” Replying to a brief filed by the SEC last month, Grayscale says that converting the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot BTC ETF would greatly benefit traders by unlocking value […]
The post Grayscale Replies to SEC, Argues That Bitcoin (BTC) Spot ETF Denial Is Illogical appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
After announcing the approval of nine new digital funds, WisdomTree reiterated that it wants to further integrate blockchain tech to improve the investor experience.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to nine more blockchain-enabled funds from $82 billion asset manager WisdomTree.
None of these funds track crypto assets themselves, but the firm does utilize the Ethereum and Stellar blockchains to keep a secondary record of share ownership, thus making them blockchain-enabled or “digital funds” as WidsomTree describes them.
The firm announced the SEC’s approval on Dec. 14, and outlined that the nine digital funds offer exposure to a host of different asset classes such as equities, commodities and floating rate treasuries. The funds are expected to launch via the WisdomTree Prime mobile app in the first quarter of 2023.
“We believe that blockchain-enabled finance has the potential to improve the investor experience through enhanced liquidity, transparency and standardization, which we aim to achieve over time,” said Will Peck, WisdomTree’s Head of Digital Assets.
The latest SEC approval comes three months after it approved the firm’s first digital fund called the WisdomTree Short-Term Treasury Digital Fund (WTSYX) in September.
In a Sept. 26 blog post, Peck emphasized that WisdomTree is looking at creating a greater investor experience via digital funds and blockchain tech, particularly in relation to trading and transaction settlements.
“To give a few examples [...] it’s remarkable that some blockchains can provide near-instant settlement finality on a peer-to-peer basis on a 24/7/365 basis. Blockchains can allow for atomic settlement (where software ensures assets are exchanged in settlement) as opposed to other potentially riskier settlement processes, like delivery vs. payment (DvP),” he wrote.
As of Dec. 14, WisdomTree claims to have roughly $82 billion worth of assets under management across its U.S. and Europe listed funds.
Related: SEC looks to intercept Grayscale Bitcoin ETF review bid
Like Grayscale Investments, the firm has also been pushing to launch an exchange traded fund (ETF) offering exposure to the spot price of Bitcoin (BTC) since early 2021.
However the SEC has rejected WidsomTree’s applications on multiple occasions, citing general concerns over fraud and market manipulation on BTC trading markets.
To date, the SEC is still yet to approve a spot BTC ETF.
The firm however offers various products tracking the altcoin market and earlier this year in March, the firm also launched three crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) backed by Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA) and Polkadot (DOT).
On Nov. 3, Santander UK, the subsidiary of the Spanish financial giant Banco Santander, S.A., published a notice that says “investing in cryptocurrency assets can be high risk.” Furthermore, the British bank also imposed a limit on cryptocurrency exchanges using the firm’s mobile and online banking services. Santander UK Limits Crypto Exchange Transfers to ‘Protect’ […]
A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has shown that Fidelity looks to launch an investment product known as the Fidelity Ethereum Index Fund on October 4, 2022. While the new fund is not an exchange-traded fund it is said to be structured as a “traditional limited partnership.” Traditional Limited Partnership According to […]
The wait for a first Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund continues as the U.S. SEC buys more time to make a decision on VanEck's proposed BTC ETF.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has pushed back a decision on the latest application for a Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) by global investment firm VanEck.
The company has long been trying to get the green light for what will be the first BTC ETF in America, with its first application lodged with the SEC dating back to 2017, which was eventually denied.
VanEck saw a second application ruled out in November 2021 by the SEC, reasoning that the firm had not met tstandards to protect investors as well as prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.
VanEck persevered with a third application for a BTC ETF offering in June 2022 filed with the SEC, highlighting a number of reasons why the SEC should reconsider its previous decisions.
Related: Bitcoin ETFs: A beginner's guide to exchange-traded funds
VanEck’s primary argument was that American funds were gaining exposure to Bitcoin through BTC spot exchange-traded products offered in Canada. America’s northern neighbor approved a spot Bitcoin ETF in February 2021, becoming one of the first countries around the world to do so.
The deadline for approval of the latest filing with the SEC was set to expire on Aug. 27, leading the regulator to postpone its decision on the matter by almost two months.
The SEC has given itself until Oct. 11 to make a ruling and noted that it had not received any comments on the proposed rule change after calling for public consultation in July 2022:
“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 the issues raised therein.”
The push for an American spot Bitcoin ETF has been a talking point since 2017, which would essentially allow institutional investors to buy shares representing Bitcoin that would be held by VanEck. This gives investors exposure to Bitcoin without having to physically own and store the cryptocurrency. VanEck intends to list its BTC ETF product on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
Roughly 247 days ago, the total bitcoin futures open interest across 12 different cryptocurrency derivatives trading platforms was $26.73 billion and over the last eight months, bitcoin futures open interest has dropped 60% down to $10.69 billion. Further, the bitcoin exchange-traded funds BITO and BTF have followed bitcoin’s spot market losses, as the bitcoin ETFs […]
The latest data from Cryptocompare shows that assets under management (AUM) of crypto investment products reached record lows during the month of June. The data also shows 21 Shares Short Bitcoin ETP as the only digital investment product that registered a positive 30-day return (30.8%) as of June 23. Three Arrows Capital Insolvency Factor The […]
The shocking Bitcoin withdrawals appeared as BTC's extended its decline below $20,000 over the weekend.
Canada's Purpose Bitcoin ETF (BTCC) witnessed its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings slashed by half in just one day, suggesting an alarmingly waning buying sentiment among the crypto's most-experienced investors.
The fund's holdings dropped from $47,818 BTC to 23,307 BTC between June 16 and 17, its lowest level since October 2021. The 51% drop in BTC holding is also the biggest daily outflow ever.
Interestingly, another Canadian crypto fund, dubbed 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, witnessed similar outflows, dropping from 23,917 BTC on June 1 to 12,668 BTC on June 17, suggesting the Purpose's massive BTC withdrawal was not an isolated event.
The outflows came at the cusp of Bitcoin's brief break below $20,000, a psychological support level that served as the top during the 2017 bull run. Notably, BTC's price fell to circa $17,570 on June 20, only to reclaim $21,000 two days later.
Nonetheless, the funds' giant Bitcoin puke left behind evidence of record-high redemption rates by their institutional clients, supposedly invoked by fears that BTC would resume its bear run below $20,000 in 2022.
"I'm not sure how they execute redemptions, but that's a lot of physical BTC to sell in a small time frame," noted Arthur Hayes, the former CEO of BitMEX crypto exchange, adding:
"Given the poor state of risk mgmt by #cryptocurrency lenders and over-generous lending terms, expect more pockets of forced selling of $BTC and $ETH as the mrkt figures out who is swimming naked."
The Bitcoin ETF outflows are related to waning buying sentiment in riskier assets, led by the Federal Reserve's ultra-hawkish stance against rising inflation.
Notably, Bitcoin has fallen by more than 70% from its record high of $69,000 in November 2021, mainly plagued by the Fed's benchmark rate hikes and systematic and complete unwinding of a $9 trillion balance sheet.
The U.S. central bank slashed rates by 75 basis points on June 15, its highest since 1994. Meanwhile, its "dot plot" reveals aims to push the lending rates to 3.4% by the end of 2022 versus the current 1.5–1.75% range.
That would mean more hikes into the year, which, in turn, could hurt risk appetite further, limiting Bitcoin's, as well as the stock market's, recovery potential.
Related: How to survive in a bear market? Tips for beginners
"The biggest issue I see as for now is a global recession, which is just around the corner," Paweł Łaskarzewski, co-CEO at decentralized finance (DeFi) launchpad platform Synapse Network, said, adding:
"Because of this, retail and institutions are too scared and don't have the same capital firepower they had a year ago. So due to the shallower market, it's much easier to break the $20K line as there might not be enough capital to take it back."
Bitcoin's likelihood of retesting $17,000–$18,000 as support will be all but guaranteed if BTC price breaks below $20,000 again.
Meanwhile, continued selling could have BTC fall to $14,000, the May 2019 top. Interesingly, Bitcoin's Volume Profile Visible Range (VSVR) further indicates the $8,000–$10,000 range as the most dominant based on trading activity.
The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.
