SEC to Review Previous ETF Rejection

Fredrik Vold
Last updated: | 1 min read

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to take a second look at Wednesday’s decision to reject proposed bitcoin-based exchange traded funds (ETFs) from three providers, according to a tweet from pro-bitcoin ETF commissioner Hester Peirce.

Source: iStock/cokada

In the tweet, Peirce explained that the decision to reject the proposals from ETF providers GraniteShares, ProShares, and Direxion was not made by the commissioners, but instead by the SEC’s staff as a routine matter, and that the SEC’s four commissioners now intend to review the staff’s decision.

In an official letter from the SEC, the secretary of the Commission wrote that the “[…] order is stayed until the Commission orders otherwise,” without specifying any timeline for the review.

Important to point out is that all the ETFs in question this time are intended to be backed by bitcoin futures contracts, meaning they will not be linked to the market for physical bitcoins. On September 30, the SEC is set to announce if they will approve, disapprove, or further delay a decision on the much-discussed ETF proposal, which is geared towards institutional investors, from financial firm VanEck. So far, this is the only provider that has filed a proposal for an ETF backed by physical bitcoins, which is considered to be far more important.

Hester Peirce became the crypto community’s favorite SEC commissioner back in July when she was the only commissioner to vote in favor of the proposed Winklevoss bitcoin ETF, which was rejected by a majority of the commissioners. Peirce later justified her vote by writing in a letter that “I reject the role of gatekeeper of innovation.”

Today, the Republican SEC commissioner once again received praise from the crypto community for standing up for innovation.