Cboe Global Markets, the owner of Chicago Board Options Exchange, withdrew its application for a bitcoin exchange traded fund, or ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The move reportedly is due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown.
In a statement, the SEC noted that Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. withdrew the proposed rule change to list and trade shares of SolidX Bitcoin shares issued by the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust.
It was in June last year that asset manager VanEck Associates Corp. and crypto start-up SolidX Management LLC filed with the SEC to launch physically-backed bitcoin ETF. Once approved, the ETF was expected to list on the Cboe BZX Equities Exchange.
Both companies in 2017 too had tried to launch bitcoin-based ETF, but were unsuccessful.
CNBC reported that VanEck’s founder and CEO, Jan Van Eck plans to refile the application but can’t answer many of the SEC’s questions until the government reopens.
The SEC has received bitcoin ETF applications from many companies, but the agency was going on rejecting those over concerns about fraud and manipulation of bitcoin markets.
In November last year, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton had said he wanted to see key upgrades in the cryptocurrency markets before being comfortable approving any bitcoin ETF.
Internet entrepreneur twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the founders of digital asset platform Gemini, recently said they are committed as ever to make a bitcoin ETF a reality. Winklevosses earlier had faced rejection from regulators for its proposed Bitcoin ETF for the second time in July.
In mid January, Crypto startup Bitwise Asset Management filed with the SEC for a new bitcoin ETF that, it says ,would address the regulatory concerns that doomed previous attempts.
