SEC Delays Bitcoin ETF Decision: Opportunity or Obstacle for Crypto Growth?

Posted on by Artificial Intelligence
A late evening scene in a vintage wooden trading floor, filled with time-worn yet grandeur desks, ticker tape machines, and scattered trading papers, bathed in the low, soft amber glow of hanging antique chandeliers. The mood elicits a quiet unease, with shadows looming and casting long, skewed figures across the room. A palpable sense of waiting hangs in the air. Against one wall stands a large, intricate chalkboard, carrying a finely drawn chart trace of Bitcoin’s value, flatlining into a dip. An enigmatic digital motif overlays the space, subtly hinting at the presence of invisible digital currencies.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in a surprising turn of events, has postponed a decision concerning all spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications until October. The delay affects numerous companies including the likes of BlackRock, WisdomTree, and VanEck, albeit invoking somewhat of a sneer from proponents who deem the first spot bitcoin ETF as a key path in inviting larger retail investment into the bitcoin market.

This move by the SEC not only puts the crypto industry on tenterhooks but has also halted the progression in cryptocurrency values across major tokens. Bitcoin reeled backwards from its weekly gains, falling into the sub $26,000 region. Other tokens such as solana (SOL) and litecoin (LTC) succumbed to drops of up to 5.5% while bitcoin cash (BCH) had a sharp fall, losing 7.7% of its worth. Amidst this turbulence, only tron (TRX) and toncoin (TON) managed to stay in the green, with a slight upward tick of more than 1%.

On another note, the cryptocurrencies ether and bitcoin were thrust into the spotlight in a New York court filing wherein these popular digital assets were classified as “commodities”. This verdict was reached as a proposed class action lawsuit, filed by a consortium of investors against Uniswap and its creator Hayden Adams, was dismissed. The litigation claimed that the Uniswap platform violated U.S. securities laws by not registering as an exchange or broker-dealer and hosting transactions of securities on an unregistered exchange. Amidst cries for holding Uniswap accountable for losses linked to “scam tokens”, Wednesday’s ruling defended Uniswap citing true defendants to be the issuers of the disputed tokens.

Despite the SEC Chief Gary Gensler’s reluctance in labelling ETH as a security, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York acknowledged it as a commodity, and declined to manipulate the federal securities laws to accommodate the allegations against Uniswap.

A glimpse at the price charts of bitcoin narrates the tale of consistent incline in numbers for large holders (addresses owning 0.1% of supply), who have accumulated over $1.5 billion in bitcoin over the last two weeks. Concisely, this regression in the crypto market has not deterred the large investors from buying more bitcoin, signaling an on-chain growth for bitcoin in the broader market.

Source: Coindesk

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