The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has rejected a proposal to launch a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) that would actively track the price of BTC.
According to the agency, the proposal from investment firm VanEck was denied due to concerns of manipulation in the crypto markets.
The Commission says the proposal must be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, and VanEck did not adequately prove that it can protect investors.
“It is essential for an exchange listing a derivative securities product to enter into a surveillance-sharing agreement with markets trading the underlying assets for the listing exchange to have the ability to obtain information necessary to detect, investigate, and deter fraud and market manipulation, as well as violations of exchange rules and applicable federal securities laws and rules.”
The rejection comes three weeks after the SEC for the first time allowed the launch of two Bitcoin futures ETFs.
The two BTC ETFs helped trigger a major rally in the crypto markets, with Bitcoin reaching an all-time high of $69,044 on November 10th.
The price of the top cryptocurrency has since retraced to $64,225 at time of writing.
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