US SEC says Bitcoin ETF applications inadequate: WSJ

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said the recent series of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications by asset managers were inadequate and not sufficiently clear, according to a report by Wall Street Journal on Friday.

See related article: SEC’s Gary Gensler dodges question on whether Ethereum is a security

Fast facts

• The SEC has informed exchanges Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, which filed the applications on behalf of the asset managers, that the applications are not comprehensive, according to the WSJ report.

• Bitcoin prices have surged since asset managers, including BlackRock, WisdomTree and Fidelity, filed an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF in June.

• However, Bitcoin fell below US$30,000 for the first time in a week shortly after the WSJ report. It quickly bounced back to US$30,113 at 11 p.m. in Hong Kong.

• The SEC has been tightening rules and has filed lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance and Coinbase, while calling a number of altcoins like Solana, Cardano, Polygon and BNB, as securities and therefore requiring appropriate registration.

• Earlier this month, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, said in a speech, “There’s nothing about the crypto securities markets that suggests that investors and issuers are less deserving of the protections of our securities laws.”

See related article: SEC Chair Gary Gensler offered to advise Binance in 2019: CNBC