U.S. lawmakers are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs. In the meantime, financial companies are actively amending their applications to meet the regulator’s requirements, but the agency continues to delay their review.
Four members of the U.S. Congress — Wiley Nickel, Ritchie Torres, Tom Emmer, and Mike Flood — have demanded that Gary Gensler, Chair of the SEC, immediately approve the listing of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
They believe that the SEC simply has no reason to keep refusing approval of applications for spot crypto ETFs after the court ruling in the Grayscale Investments case. Especially considering the fact that the regulator has approved investment products related to BTC futures. Officials stated that a regulated financial instrument could provide investors with additional protection, making access to the first cryptocurrency safer. Therefore, the SEC is obliged to approve investment products that fulfill regulatory requirements, rather than delaying the process without objective reasons.
In turn, the SEC has once again postponed the deadline for reviewing the application for issuing the spot Bitcoin ETF ARK 21Shares. According to the official statement, the regulator requires more time to consider the proposed changes, so the agency is taking another 60 days to make a decision. Thus, the new deadline for ARK 21Shares is set for January 10, 240 days after the initial application was submitted.
A decision on the Bitcoin ETF from exchange-traded fund provider GlobalX has also been postponed. The SEC will make a decision on the investment tool’s issuance on November 21 or reschedule again. A total of seven applications for spot crypto ETFs are currently awaiting regulatory approval, namely from BlackRock, WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Valkyrie, Bitwise, VanEck, and Fidelity.
Notably, representatives of Bitwise Asset Management have amended the Bitcoin ETF application with 40 pages of new text. However, according to Matt Hougan, the company’s chief investment officer, their attempts to comply with SEC requirements may not succeed as the regulator believes that the crypto ETF doesn’t meet the agency’s technical requirements.
In addition to the Bitcoin ETF, several applications for spot Ethereum ETFs are also awaiting regulatory approval.
