Two down, probably more to come.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has denied the second Bitcoin ETF in its latest round of applications, the WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust, which is among a dozen or so Bitcoin ETF applications pending at the agency.
In a 53-page letter dated Dec. 1, the commission rejected the Cboe BZX's rule changes to trade the WisdomTree ETF because the proposal did not meet the requirements "to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and "to protect investors and the public interest."
The rejection letter enumerated multiple reasons for the SEC's decision, including a lack of data provided to support its assertions that the Bitcoin market is inherently resistant to fraud and manipulation and a lack of means to to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices if it dispensed with a requisite surveillance-sharing agreement.
The SEC rejected the exchange's assertions that the growth of liquidity in the spot Bitcoin market and certain features of the reference rate for Bitcoin, which aggregates the trade flow of several spot Bitcoin platforms, mitigates potential manipulation concerns.
