SEC Delays Decision Again On Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Proposal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Friday that it would again delay a desicion on Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The SEC raised concerns on how Grayscale will protect the investors against share manipulation, fraud and other possible issues in its proposal to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a notice Friday.

The U.S. regulator also voiced questions about the liquidity and transparency of bitcoin markets, as well as the “suitability” of bitcoin as the underlying asset for the fund.

The SEC has asked the public to comment on these issues within 21 days, and reserves an additional 14 days for responses to those comments.

SEC, earlier this week, requested investment manager Bitwise to respond to similar concerns about its spot bitcoin ETF proposal.

Grayscale filed an application with the securities commission to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a bitcoin spot ETF back in October last year. In December, the SEC delayed the decision for Grayscale’s application by 45 days.

Over the past months, the SEC has rejected spot bitcoin ETF applications from several investment management firms such as WisdomTree, Krypton, SkyBridge and Fidelity.