VanEck, one of the first firms in the world to file for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), has not given up on plans to launch a bitcoin spot ETF in the United States.
The firm has resubmitted an application for a physical-backed bitcoin ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
VanEck submitted its latest Bitcoin ETF application on June 24, a few months after the U.S. SEC rejected its previous spot Bitcoin ETF application on November 12, 2021. The securities regulator's decision was based on the ETF's failure to meet standards for protecting investors and the public interest, as well as "preventing fraudulent and manipulative practices."
In the latest filing, VanEck provides a number of reasons why the US SEC should approve a Bitcoin ETF this time around.
The ETF firm believes that the lack of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) listed in the United States does not prevent funds in the United States from gaining exposure to bitcoin. According to VanEck, this is because many US ETPs use Canadian BTC ETPs to gain spot BTC exposure:
"Approval of this proposal, and others like it, will provide U.S. ETFs and mutual funds with U.S.-listed and regulated products, rather than relying on defective products or products that are listed and regulated in other countries."
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Canada was one of the first countries in the world to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF, launching the Purpose Bitcoin ETF in February 2021.
VanEck went on to say that the approval of a Bitcoin spot ETF would be a logical step after the U.S. SEC decided to allow ETFs based on Bitcoin futures. As previously reported, VanEck’s BTC futures ETF will begin trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on November 16, 2021.
The new document reads: “Following the approval of Bitcoin futures and the determination that the CME Bitcoin futures market is a regulated market … the only unanimous result was the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETP, which is also a related, A regulated market of considerable size."
Bloomberg ETF analyst Henry Jim said the deadline for consideration of VanEck's latest spot bitcoin ETF is March 3, 2023.
VanEck was one of the first U.S. companies to apply for a bitcoin futures ETF. The firm originally applied to launch a physical-backed bitcoin ETF in June 2018, but the SEC repeatedly delayed a decision on the proposal, ultimately rejecting it three years later.