Bitcoin fell Friday after a report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said the recent applications filed by asset managers to launch spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds are inadequate.
The largest cryptocurrency
BTCUSD,
fell 1% over the past 24 hours to around $30,282, according to CoinDesk data. Bitcoin has gained over 85% so far this year, but is still down over 55% since its all-time high in 2021.
Earlier this month, BlackRock
BLK,
the world’s largest assets manager, filed an application for a spot bitcoin ETF. Following the move, Invesco
IVZ,
WisdomTree, Valkyrie, Bitwise, ARK Investment Management and Fidelity all amended their filings or re-filed their applications to issue similar products.
The SEC approved several bitcoin futures-based ETFs in the past, but has yet to greenlight anything that is backed by bitcoin itself.
Some people have speculated that a surveillance sharing agreement in BlackRock’s filing, which requires the sharing of information about market trading activity, clearing activity, and customer identity, could be a breakthrough to obtain the SEC’s approval.
However, the SEC told Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, which filed the applications on behalf of asset managers including BlackRock and Fidelity, that it returned the filings because they didn’t provide enough details about the surveillance sharing agreements or didn’t name the spot bitcoin exchange with which they are expected to have such agreements, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal citing unnamed sources.
The SEC said the asset managers can update the language and refile, according to the report.
