The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on several requests for Bitcoin ETFs, which are investment funds that track the price of Bitcoin.
This delay affects proposals from companies like BlackRock, Invesco, Bitwise, and Valkyrie. The SEC took this step ahead of the government shutdown happening soon.
On September 28, the SEC officially postponed the approval process for the Bitcoin ETFs mentioned earlier.
Bloomberg analyst, James Seyffart believes that similar requests from Fidelity, VanEck, and WisdomTree will also face delays from the SEC.
In simpler terms, the SEC has decided to wait before deciding whether to allow these investment funds that deal with Bitcoin, and this is happening because of a possible government shutdown. This delay may also impact other companies looking to launch similar funds in the future.
The latest delays happened two weeks earlier than many applicants expected. People were anticipating receiving communication from the securities regulator sometime between October 16 and 19.
Seyffart said the reason for these delays is linked to the potential shutdown of the U.S. government on October 1 which could disrupt the operations of financial regulators and other federal agencies.
Currently, Both chambers of Congress — the House and Senate have not agreed on various funding bills needed to fund the government’s operations. Congress has to pass 12 separate bills for funding the government for the entire year by October 1 to avoid a shutdown.
In late August, the SEC postponed the review of several Bitcoin ETF applications as the first deadline approached.
Additionally, there is a third set of deadlines for these seven companies, which falls around the middle of January. These deadlines might also be pushed back or postponed. The SEC must make a final decision on these matters by, at the latest, the middle of March.
Also Read: SEC Delays ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF Decision Until 2024
