Not to be dismissed so easily, investment management firm VanEck has filed a new application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. The fresh application comes eight months after the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected its previous filing.
Moreover, VanEck hasn’t been deterred by SEC’s rejecting Grayscale Investments spot Bitcoin ETF. It should be noted that the regulator has also approved multiple Bitcoin futures ETFs. VanEck, in support of its fresh application, highlighted that the spot commodities and currency markets for which SEC has previously approved spot ETPs are generally unregulated. The firm said that SEC depended on the underlying futures market as the regulated market of significant size that formed the basis of approving the series of currency and commodity-based trust shares – including gold, silver, platinum, copper, and others.
Jan van Eck, the CEO of VanEck had said in mid-March that SEC was holding the spot Bitcoin ETF hostage. He also said that maybe the watchdog was awaiting direction from US lawmakers and the broader jurisdiction to approve the investment product. Grayscale, on similar lines, had said that the SEC is discriminating against issuers by approving Bitcoin Futures ETFs and denying Bitcoin spot ETFs.
ProShares bagged approval for its futures-based Bitcoin ETF. This shows that the SEC is comfortable with products based on futures over those based on Bitcoin.
