Securities and Exchange Commission’s Commissioner Heister Peirce, who is popularly known as Crypto mum among the Crypto community is known for her fierce views favoring the cryptocurrencies.  

Recently she again has expressed discord with the SEC’s decision to dismiss the Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) bided by the Wilshire. While dissenting with the decision of the SEC, she acknowledged that SEC is unfair and has constantly been shifting the standards for Bitcoin (BTC).

The SEC has once again had rejected the Bitcoin ETF on the grounds of its capability to manipulate the markets and lacking central interference and surveillance.

She quoted, “This line of disapprovals leads me to conclude that this commission is unwilling to approve any product that would provide access to the market for Bitcoin that no filing will meet the ever-shifting standards that this Commission insists on applying the Bitcoin-related products –and only to Bitcoin-related products."

In a filing posted on Wednesday, 26 February, the Regulatory Commission wrote the New York-based Wilshire Phoenix that the Bitcoin (BTC) market is non-resistant to market manipulation. Wilshire Phoenix is a startup in financial services that had bided for the ETF last summer with NYSA Arca.

“The commission concluded that the NYSE Arca has not made its burden under the Exchange Act and the Commission's Rules of Practice demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirement of Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5) and in particular the requirement that the rules of a national securities exchange be designated to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest.”

It is interesting to note that the SEC has rejected all the previous proposals of the Bitcoin ETF filed by Wilshire and others as well. William Herrmann, Managing Director of Wilshire, said that they have added the treasury bonds to Bitcoin. These funds will automatically rebalance itself addressing the Bitcoins price volatility. If the crypto currency’s price fluctuates too often and too much then the fund would be invested more into bonds. This will stabilize its position and after the stabilization, it will reverse the move.

This automatic rebalancing came as a solution response to the SECs’s previous dismissals to the proposal.

Last year, the Commission had also rejected Bitwise Asset Management’s proposal for Bitcoin ETF for the same reasons. Several such ETF proposals have been rejected by the SEC under the concern that the Bitcoin market is not significant in volumes and it can easily be manipulated.

Commissioner Heister Peirce also said that it is absurd on the part of SEC to keep rejecting the ETF Bitcoin it can provide a safe and properly regulated investment opportunity for the Americans to invest.

It seems that it may take a few more years to change the policy of the SEC to make it more Crypto friendly and BTC friendly.

Looking at SEC’s stern stand, the majority of experts now have concluded that the Bitcoin ETF will not be allowed at least in 2020

Jayashree Ingle

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA