The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed a decision on the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index exchange-traded fund (ETF) to March as it needs more time to conduct a comprehensive review of the proposal.
The SEC has set a new deadline of March 3, 2025, to approve, disapprove, or conduct further review of the proposal.
SEC Extends Review Period For Bitwise 10 Crypto ETF
An extended review period to March 3 should help SEC have more time to evaluate the impact of the fund.
The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund aims to track the performance of top cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. This fund includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Avalanche, Chainlink, Bitcoin Cash, Polkadot and Uniswap. Bitwise has maintained this initial fund since 2018.
On November 14, 2024, NYSE Arca sent a proposal to the SEC for permission to list and trade shares of the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund. This filing was published for public comment in the Federal Register on December 3, 2024 and no comments have been filed to date.
The SEC is required to act on such filings within 45 days of publication. The deadline, originally set for January 17, 2025, has now been extended.
If passed, the proposal would mark a major milestone in the SEC’s handling of cryptocurrency investment vehicles. The decision to extend the review period is in line with the SEC’s cautious approach to cryptocurrency regulation.
However, the delay is not surprising. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said so above Twitter.
“As expected, the SEC has postponed/delayed a decision on BitwiseInvest’s proposal to convert the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW) into an ETF. The deadline is at the end of July,” Seyffart said.
He also added that the SEC may delay approval of Grayscale’s proposal for its GDLC fund. The deadline for the proposal is Feb. 2, and Seyffart said, “There is also expected to be a delay there.”
Meanwhile, others are hoping that approvals will come quickly once Trump takes office.
“As expected, Gensler SEC delays approval of BitwiseInvest Bitwise 10 crypto index ETF including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, AVAX, LINK, BCH, DOT, UNI. Expect all of this to be approved as soon as Trump takes office,” said crypto analyst Marty Party speak.
Recently, the property management company has submit application filed with the SEC in December to launch a new ETF called “Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF.” The fund will invest in companies that hold large amounts of Bitcoin as part of their corporate financial reserves.
