VanEck, SolidX Bitcoin ETF Proposal Withdrawn From SEC Review
- This is the second time the companies have withdrawn the ETF proposal, this time a month before the SEC’s deadline.
- Weeks before, the two companies began offering limited Bitcoin ETFs to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A exemption.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission building. SEC
The VanEck/SolidX Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposal has been withdrawn for the second time by the CBOE’s BZX Equity Exchange, according to a filing from 17 September.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published a notice which informed the public that BZX has withdrawn its proposed rule change, to publicly list shares of the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust, on 13 September. The SEC, which had delayed their decision on the proposal a number of times, faced a final deadline, to determine whether to approve or reject the Bitcoin ETF, on 18 October. This will not be the company’s final attempt at an ETF, according to a tweet from VanEck’s director of Digital Asset Strategies, Gabor Gurbacs, who said:
Even though the ETF proposal was withdrawn, earlier this month VanEck Securities Corp. and SolidX Management LLC began offering limited Bitcoin ETF to qualified institutional buyers. The companies made use of Rule 144A, which exempted the shares from securities registration, but could only be sold to institutional buyers. For the three weeks after the product was announced, VanEck had issued only four Bitcoins via its new trust focused on institutional investors.
This is the second time that VanEck and SolidX withdrew an ETF proposal. This January, the two companies withdrew their proposed ETF because of the prolonged government shutdown, which threatened a rejection. After the government shutdown drama was over, the ETF was re-submitted.
- The U.S. SEC, CFTC, and FTC have all filed separate lawsuits against bankrupt crypto lender Celsius and its former CEO Alex Mashinsky, charging them with multiple counts of fraud.
- Mashinsky was also arrested in New York on Thursday, and later charged by the Department of Justice with securities fraud, commodities fraud, and wire fraud.
Former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky on Centre Stage during day three of Web Summit, Lisbon, Portugal, 4 November 2021.Piaras Ó Mídheach/Web Summit via Sportsfile/Flickr
- Investment firms Invesco and WisdomTree both followed the example of BlackRock from last week, and filed for their own spot Bitcoin ETFs with the U.S. SEC.
- Although the SEC is yet to approve a single spot Bitcoin ETF product, ETF analysts say there is a good chance BlackRock is the first considering its history with ETFs.
- The U.S. regulator has alleged that the platforms offered unregistered securities to the general pubic in the form of the BNB token and BUSD stablecoin.
- Binance was also accused of failing to register as an exchange, and that it had comingled funds between its global and U.S. platforms.