Bitcoin has been fighting for an ETF (exchange traded fund) approval from the SEC in the United States but all in vain. Coinbase, about two months ago had been working on getting its own bitcoin ETF but failed, along with several other bitcoin enthusiasts. Their requests were rejected primarily because the SEC believed the cryptocurrency isn’t matured enough to have its own ETF. Despite all this, news has resurfaced that the Securities and Exchange Commission held closed-door meetings with a number of Bitcoin ETF advocates.

A number of documents released by the SEC indicate that it met with some official representatives from SolidX, VanEck, and CBOE Global Markets to have closed-door discussions on how to push further with a Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund. It wasn’t until two weeks later when the SEC released a memo of the meeting that the public had a glimpse of what ensued in secret.

 

Per the memo the meeting was held on the 9^th of October 2018 and had in attendance Commissioner Roisman, four other legal counsels and five officials from VanEck, SolidX, and CBOE Global Markets. Commissioner Roisman has been identified by many people as been a very pro-crypto person. The memo was released along with an eleven-part slide from VanEck.

The slides give a detailed account of VanEck’s partnership with SolidX as they both have been working on getting Bitcoin ETFs live and going since last year. Since VanEck is very much capable of proposing an ETF backed by a cryptocurrency it has made its stand for bitcoin known. VanEck has been known to manage assets worth up to $46 billion.

 

The SEC has consistently this year delayed the passing of a bill that would allow crypto ETFs in general, and crypto enthusiasts haven’t been very much pleased with the SEC’s reluctance. VanEck was one of the many companies who were denied the permission to start a crypto/bitcoin-backed ETF for these reasons; market surveillance infrastructure, a lack of investor protection, and liquidity, the SEC says. But just abruptly VanEck is claiming that the issues it had with the SEC last year have been absolutely resolved.

 

VanEck’s Bitcoin ETF Proposal

Details of the slides indicate that the price of an ETF share was to go for 25 BTC per piece. Which means that the price will vary greatly depending on the value on a single BTC on the crypto market. This means that the agency is willing to give appropriate capital to its crypto initiative.

 

An extra slide titled “VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust Should Be Approved,” gave a glimpse into how the they financial institutions are looking to address the issue of regulation in cryptocurrencies. VanEck is claiming it has very significant “regulated derivatives for Bitcoin”. Moreover, an extra claim is that the CBOE rules are there to ensure that market supervision is a priority in the exchange fund that is being proposed. The representatives from VanEck evidently did a great job in pitching the ETF proposal to the SEC, and most stakeholders are going to be glad. However, we haven’t had any formal comment from the SEC on what its next action on the matter will be.

Commissioner Stein has previously mentioned that people hoping for a crypto ETF will definitely be disappointed as he says

“At the end of the day, whatever fund presents a concept to us will have to show how they can get accurate valuations, how they make sure that there is physical custody, and how to make sure that there is adequate liquidity, especially in a 40-act fund context, where investors can get the money when they need their money.”

The SEC on the other hand has made it clear just this month that not always do the words of an official represent the organisation’s views on a matter.

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