The closely watched proposal to list a bitcoin-exchange-traded fund on Cboe BZX Exchange has been withdrawn. It appears that the ongoing partial shutdown by the U.S. government is to blame.
According to Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck VanEck director for digital asset hypixel skyblock coins strategy, the filing was “temporarily withheld”. CoinDesk reported that this filing had been “temporarily withdrawn”. He stated that he was actively working with regulators as well as major market participants to create appropriate market structures for Bitcoin ETFs and other digital assets.
Jan van Eck, chief executive officer at VanEck, stated on Wednesday on CNBC that the shutdown’s effect on the Securities and Exchange Commission, (SEC), hampered the approval process between regulators and those who are seeking the ETF. Van Eck stated that the discussions surrounding the proposal, originally submitted in June but subject to delays and subsequent approvals, “had to end.”
Van Eck spoke to Bob Pisani of CNBC for Skyblock coins shop.
“So, you understand that the SEC has been shut down…we were in discussions with them about bitcoin-related issues, custody market manipulation, prices and that had to end. Instead of trying to get through or anything, we just had our application pulled. We will re-file the application and engage in the discussions once the SEC is back up and running.”
Pisani asked van Eck if the proposal would have been rejected regardless of concerns over custody and bitcoin’s price. Van Eck replied that they think they have solid answers, but needed to show it to regulators.
He said, “We tried to do that, but we clearly can’t have meetings while the computers are shut down.”. More about Hypixel Skyblock Coins For Sale
Jake Chervinsky, a Kobre & Kim lawyer, stated to CoinDesk that he believed that the ETF sponsors had made the right decision to withdraw the proposal. He also noted that the shutdown was the last nail in the ETF coffin because the SEC does not have enough staff to approve or review any rule changes.
The SEC can’t issue another order stating that the bitcoin markets aren’t ready for an ETF if the proposal is withdrawn. Chervinsky explained in an email that the decision to withdraw was a decision to “live to fight another day”. Jan Van Eck had stated that he would re-file his proposal following the shutdown. This is likely to prevent him from setting a precedent that could make it more difficult to succeed in the future.
After disagreements over funding for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, President Donald Trump demanded that the partial shutdown be stopped. This is the longest U.S. government shutdown.
A number of other crypto projects are caught in the fire of the shutdown, including Bakkt, a bitcoin futures platform, and ErisX, a crypto trading platform. Both are currently awaiting approvals from the Commodity Futures Exchange Commission, an independent U.S agency also affected by the funding lapse.