SEC Chair Gary Gensler participates in a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council at the U.S. Treasury in Washington, D.C., July 28, 2023.
Kevin Dietsch | etty Images
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed a decision on the Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, the latest roadblock in a years-long fight to trade crypto assets directly on traditional U.S. financial exchanges.
The deadline for the SEC to make some sort of decision on the fund was Aug. 13. The regulator said in a filing Friday that it is seeking public comment on one of the amendments in the application for the exchange-traded fund, effectively pushing out the date a decision is needed for approval. The process may now stretch into 2024.
The Ark 21Shares fund is seen as the first in line for a potential bitcoin ETF launch, though the SEC could choose to approve many funds at roughly the same time if it does decide to allow them. Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood told Bloomberg News earlier this week that she expected the SEC to make a decision on multiple funds at once.
Applications from other major organizations, including BlackRock and WisdomTree, have already been filed. Crypto investment firm Grayscale is still awaiting a court decision after the SEC repeatedly rejected its proposal to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF.
The Cboe BZX exchange filed with the SEC for a rule change in April that would allow the listing of the Ark21 spot bitcoin fund. The filing has since been amended several times and now includes a surveillance-sharing provision that was introduced in BlackRock’s filing for a bitcoin fund.
The SEC has rejected dozens of prior applications to create a spot bitcoin ETF, and SEC Chair Gary Gensler appeared to be leading a crackdown against the crypto industry earlier this year.
But there are signs that momentum is shifting toward the crypto industry, including a partial legal victory for Ripple that cast doubt on the SEC’s efforts to classify most crypto assets as securities.
The SEC has already allowed the launch of several bitcoin futures ETFs.
The price of bitcoin was little changed Friday, trading above $29,000.