And here we go again, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (, SEC) delays the decision over yet another Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), this time around the cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management’s bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) is facing a delay. As revealed by a filing published by the SEC on May 14.

The SEC elaborates in the filling about the delay and requested for a public comment from interested parties. The Commission thus asks interested persons to “provide written submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have with the proposal.”

Bitwise filed an initial ETF in February under the condition that the SEC would reach a decision in 45 days. The firms’ proposal states that bitcoin ETF is reportedly different from other previously proposed bitcoin ETFs, as it draws prices from a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges that aims of better representing the market.

The original filing from Bitwise specifically states that its bitcoin ETF would require “regulated third-party custodians to hold its physical bitcoin.” It adds: 

“Having a regulated bank or trust company hold physical assets of a fund has been the standard under U.S. fund regulation for the last 80 years, and we believe that is now possible with Bitcoin.”

The SEC first delayed its decision on the Bitwise ETF application in March, following which the regulator was obligated to come to a decision on whether or not to approve the rule change by May 16, 2019. As per today’s filing, the public comment period will last three weeks after the most recent amendments to the Bitwise ETF application are published in the Federal Register, followed by two weeks for responses.

Last year in December, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce who is also dubbed as “Crypto Mom” by the community for her dissent with the SEC’s decision to reject a bitcoin ETF proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, said that a cryptocurrency or bitcoin ETF is definitely possible,” but it could be years away.

Read more:Hyperledger Introduces Hyperledger Aries, Blockchain Tool For Interoperability

Image Source – Pixabay.com