June 30 (Reuters) – Exchange operator Cibo (CBOE.Z) on Friday resubmitted Fidelity’s application to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund to U.S. securities regulators, bolstering the global cryptocurrency. It said it will work with exchange Coinbase (COIN.O). ) to prevent market manipulation in the process.
The new filing is intended to address concerns raised by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which told Cboe to list and list Fidelity’s spot bitcoin ETF, according to people familiar with the matter. It said its recent application to trade was unclear and incomplete. The SEC has also expressed similar concerns to the Nasdaq (NDAQ.O) over BlackRock’s (BLK.N) recent spot Bitcoin ETF filing, according to the person.
A key issue was that the exchange did not disclose the name of the cryptocurrency trading platform it plans to enter into surveillance sharing agreements to detect fraudulent activity in the underlying bitcoin market, the official said. rice field.
Cboe on Friday refiled with the SEC its Bitcoin ETF listing application from a joint venture between WisdomTree, VanEck, and Invesco (IVZ.N) and Galaxy. In all filings, the company said it plans to enter into a monitoring sharing agreement with Coinbase.
The SEC, Cboe, Nasdaq, Fidelity and BlackRock declined to comment. Coinbase was not immediately available for comment.
The SEC sued Coinbase earlier this month for failing to register as an exchange. According to Cboe’s Fidelity Bitcoin ETF filing, the firm’s platform accounted for about half of all U.S. dollar and Bitcoin trades in May.
In a letter filed in federal court in Manhattan late Wednesday, Coinbase said that crypto assets traded on its platform are not “investment contracts” and therefore regulators do not have the authority to pursue civil lawsuits. and said it would ask a judge to dismiss the SEC lawsuit. They are not marketable securities.
The SEC has also accused the world’s largest crypto trading platform of operating a “web of deception” against Binance.
John Reid Stark, former chief of the SEC’s Internet Enforcement Office, said of the cryptocurrency market, “The market is not only opaque and unaudited, it is also rife with manipulation, according to the SEC.” Stated.
The recent Bitcoin ETF filings by BlackRock and Fidelity have pushed the price of bitcoin soaring by more than 20% since June 15, to a one-year high.
Cryptocurrency prices have been under pressure for much of this year, with a series of crypto company meltdowns, including the sudden collapse of exchange FTX in late 2022, souring investor sentiment.
Ed Moya, Senior Market Analyst at Oanda, said the fact that Bitcoin prices held up significantly after the SEC asked for more information on Bitcoin ETF filings suggests that sentiment has not turned bearish. said to suggest.
“It shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the SEC is a little bit resistant,” he said of the Bitcoin ETF filing. “I don’t think it was realistic to expect them to concede so quickly and give quick approval.”
The SEC has rejected dozens of spot Bitcoin ETF applications in recent years, including one from Fidelity in January 2022.
In each case, the filings failed to meet standards designed to prevent fraud and manipulation and protect investors and the public interest.
Carolina Mandle and John McCrank report in New York and Manya Saini in Bengaluru. Additional reporting and editing by Michelle Price.Editing: Shinjini Ganguly, Michelle Price, Alexander Smith, David Gregorio
Our criteria: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
