BlackRock Made To Wait As SEC Delays Decision On Bitcoin ETFs

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has stated that it is delaying its decision on spot bitcoin applications until at least mid-October.

The likes of Fidelity, BlackRock, VanEck, WisdomTree, Bitwise, Invesco, and Valkyrie have filed several spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

The Wait Gets Longer

According to reports, the delay by the Securities and Exchange Commission was widely expected as the regulatory agency goes through a long list of recent applications. According to agency filings, these applications are from WisdomTree, BlackRock, Invesco, Galaxy, Wise Origin, Bitwise, VanEck, and Valkyrie Digital Assets. The regulator stated in separate filings that decision deadlines on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, the VanEck Bitcoin Trust, WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust, and the Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF were delayed until the 17th of October.

Meanwhile, the deadline for Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Fund was delayed until the 19th of October. The Securities and Exchange Commission also delayed its decision on the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust to the 16th of October. The commission stated when referring to the WisdomTree Fund,

“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission has been reluctant to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF and has flagged concerns about fraud and manipulation. However, the SEC did approve the trading of the first Bitcoin futures in 2021.

Bitcoin Price Drops On News

As expected, the Bitcoin price continued its decline following the news, with the world’s largest cryptocurrency dropping over 5% in 24 hours, as seen in data sourced from CoinGecko. Currently, it is trading just under the $26,000 mark. The Commission has 240 days from the day it begins its review of applications to make a decision to approve or deny the application. The commission’s staff have typically used all possible review and comment periods to delay making a decision until all of the 240 days have elapsed.