The U.S. SEC Files Several Amendments for Comments on Bitcoin ETFs, Sets New Deadline to October 26

05. Oct 2018 Posted by Akolkar B on News

On Thursday, October 4, the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed multiple amendments for rule rule changes to nine different Bitcoin ETF proposals. The latest amendments affects Bitcoins ETFs proposed by Direxion, ProShares, and GraniteShares, filed earlier this year.

Although the SEC has released three separate amendment statements, it shall be noted that all three cover the same issue. The regulatory watchdog has sought comments either in support or opposition of all three cryptocurrency trading products that also include two major proposals from GraniteShares: : GraniteShares(long) Bitcoin ETF and the GraniteShares Short Bitcoin ETF. Below is some important excerpt from the latest amendment.

“The Exchange proposes to list and trade shares of the GraniteShares Bitcoin ETF (the “Long Fund”) and the GraniteShares Short Bitcoin ETF (the “Short Fund”) under Rule 14.11(f)(4), which governs the listing and trading of Trust Issued Receipts on the Exchange. The Shares will be offered by the Trust, which was established as a Delaware statutory trust on November 7, 2016. The Trust will not be registered as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940 and is not required to register under such act.”

The GraniteShares Bitcoin ETF proposal was filed earlier this year on the 5th of January, 2018. In August, the SEC initially disapproved the proposal saying that it was not consistent with the Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5). The agency said that is was not convinced that the proposal could prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices occurring in the crypto sphere.

However, just in a day after that, the SEC Commissioner Hester M Peirce soon intervened in the matter and asked the agency to reconsider its stand of rejection. In the latest filed amendment, the SEC has sought further comments and shifted the deadline to October 26, 2018.

In another document the regulatory has also outline the “Proposed Rule Change to List and Trade the Shares of the GraniteShares Bitcoin ETF and the GraniteShares Short Bitcoin ETF (File No. SRCboeBZX-2018-001).” However the Sec notes that the existing order disapproving the proposed rule change remains in effect until the next deadline.

The document notes: “Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Commission Rule of Practice 431, that by October 26, 2018, any party or other person may file a statement in support of, or in opposition to, the action made pursuant to delegated authority.”

Just like for GraniteShares, SEC released separate amendments for ProShares Bitcoin ETF and Direxion Daily Bitcoin shares.