Bitcoin (BTC) Down 4% As the U.S. SEC Further Delays VanEck Bitcoin ETF Proposal

After trying to consolidate at around $40,000 levels over the last two days, Bitcoin (BTC) is down 4% as of writing this story slipping under $38,500 levels. At press time, the BTC price is training 4.21% down trading at $38,282 with a market cap of $720 billion.

Bitcoin comes under pressure as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has further delayed its decision to approve the VanEck Bitcoin ETF. The SEC said that it will be seeking more public comments on this derivatives product that will list on the CBOE Global Market Inc.

In Wednesday’s announcement, the SEC has asked the public to weigh in and share its opinion on the aspects of the CBOE proposal. As per Bloomberg, the SEC has set a further deadline in July, further extended to August, to seek public comments on the proposal. Some of the key questions asked by securities regulator include:

• Whether the trust and shares associated with the ETF would be susceptible to manipulation?
• Whether Cboe’s plan is set up to prevent fraud and manipulation?
• How transparent is Bitcoin?
• Has regulation of the Bitcoin market changed substantially in the past five years?
• What views do commentators have on the size and regulation of CME’s Bitcoin futures contracts?

Bitcoin ETF Approval Long Overdue

The approval of the first Bitcoin ETF approval in the U.S. is long overdue. Other markets like Canada have already given green signals to financial players floating their Bitcoin ETF. The Purpose Bitcoin ETF has accumulated a large quantity of BTC over the last few months since its launch.

SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce also popular as crypto mom has voiced her opinion several times in support of Bitcoin ETF’s approval. In an interview with Forbes, Pierce also stated that delaying the Bitcoin ETF approval will have consequences as investors will start moving to other options in seeking exposure to Bitcoin.

Pierce noted that refusal to approve the crypto ETF has created an “investor protection problem” and the U.S. investors are going through “less direct routes to get the same results”.