SEC Again Delays VanEck Bitcoin ETF Decision

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) keeps kicking the bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) can down the road.

In a Wednesday filing, the regulator once again delayed passing judgement on the VanEck Bitcoin Trust.

The SEC renders a decision on prospective applications within 45-day windows and can take up to 240 days to make a decision. This is the second time it has extended the review period on the VanEck bid.

The approval of a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. remains the crypto industry's white whale.

In the same filing, the SEC asked for public comment on VanEck’s application. The regulator asked interested parties to answer questions about how susceptible the ETF would be to market manipulation and whether or not the regulatory landscape has changed significantly since the first time bitcoin ETF applications had garnered popular attention in 2016.

“In rejecting numerous bitcoin ETF applications, the SEC has continually stated concerns over fraud and manipulation in the underlying bitcoin spot market,” Nathan Geraci, president of the ETF Store, told CoinDesk in a recent interview. “The SEC is worried they don’t have proper surveillance over crypto exchanges and, therefore, can’t ensure adequate investor protections are in place.”

A request for comment sent to VanEck was not immediately returned.

Nikhilesh De contributed reporting.