Investment manager VanEck has refiled its application for a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission. It submitted its papers on 24 June, bringing to light its eagerness to get an approval.
Its last application was, notably, rejected on 12 November last year. The regulatory body had stated that VanEck was unable to meet standards to protect investors and the public interest. The SEC also asserted that the company failed to show how it would prevent “fraudulent” and “manipulative” acts and practices.
What the new Bitcoin ETF filing says
In this time’s re-application, VanEck made strong assertions as to why the regulatory agency should approve its Bitcoin ETF.
It argued that US funds continue to get exposed to Bitcoin, even though the nation doesn’t have its own approved fund. It contended that if a native fund is approved, investors needn’t look overseas and rely on either flawed products or products listed and primarily regulated in other countries.
The investment manager also stated that approving a spot Bitcoin ETF would be a rational step for the SEC because it already green-lit its Bitcoin futures fund. Notably, the futures ETF started trading on CBOE in mid-November last year.
“After issuing the Bitcoin futures approvals which conclude the CME Bitcoin futures market is a regulated market […] the only consistent outcome would be approving spot Bitcoin ETPs on the basis that the Bitcoin futures market is also a regulated market of significant size as it relates to the Bitcoin spot market.”
Keeping its base covered?
Here it is worth recalling that the SEC recently rejected Grayscale’s application to convert its flagship Bitcoin Fund, GBTC, into an ETF. Challenging the said decision, the company filed a lawsuit against the regulatory body.
Grayscale has claimed that the SEC giving approvals to futures products, but not spot ones was “arbitrary and capricious.” Per the company, the bias is essentially a violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.
Now, people from the community have started speculating that VanEck is having its base covered just in case Grayscale wins the legal tussle.
On its part, VanEck is venturing into other areas. It is launching a “Space Innovators” ETF in Europe. The same would put it in direct competition with YODA, the Procure Space fund.
In fact, Europe is also all set to launch its first-ever Bitcoin ETF this month. As reported yesterday, Jacobi Asset Management will put to sea the ETF on Euronext Amsterdam. In effect, people on CT have already started asserting that the SEC needs to act quickly before it becomes too late.
Read More: https://watcher.guru/news/post-uss-utterly-shameful-act-europe-set-to-launch-first-bitcoin-etf
Despite getting approvals from foreign regulators, VanEck has not been able to convince the SEC to be on the same page. Only time will be able to tell if the current re-filing would change that narrative or not.
Per Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Henry Jim, the deadline for VanEck’s latest spot Bitcoin ETF is 3 March 2023.