VanEck Calls Out the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Delaying Bitcoin ETF Amendments

Asset management firm VanEck has spoken against the visible trend of delaying decisions on Bitcoin ETF amendments and other crypto ETF applications by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Asset management firm VanEck has spoken against the visible trend of delaying decisions on Bitcoin ETF amendments and other crypto ETF applications by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). To compound these delays, the regulator is not sharing relatable feedback with the community.

Drawing on this, Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s Head of Digital Assets Research, has called out the regulator, saying investors deserve better than the silence.

At first, Sigel pointed out on X that the SEC has delayed ruling on CBOE’s 19b-4 filing to list options on VanEck Bitcoin ETF with the ticker symbol ‘HODL.’ This is also the case with the delay its proposed In-Kind creations and redemption for the same spot Bitcoin ETF offering.

Per Sigel X’s post, whenever the regulator announces such delays, it barely explains the reason behind the action. He tagged Hester Peirce, who leads the Crypto Task Force, a new unit established by the SEC.

“No explanation for either delay, despite the format of the 19b-4 filing (for listing options on the VanEck Bitcoin ETF with ticker symbol HODL) and the proposed In-Kind creations and redemption being noteworthy.”

Armed with no information in the form of an explanation, applicants wonder what could be wrong with their applications. Matthew Sigel tagged this entire process “confounding and frustrating.”

Speaking on behalf of these applicants, the VanEck Executive noted that Bitcoin ETF stakeholders deserve transparency. In addition, Sigel said investors are worthy of a timely response, an action that seems to be way above the SEC’s capacity.

Recently, the number of asset managers whose crypto ETF application decisions have been delayed has jumped a notch. On May 22, the SEC postponed its decision on CoinShares spot XRP ETF.

Instead of issuing a decision, the regulator called for public comments and rebuttals on these filings. As such, the agency pegged the next deadline as August 24 up from the original May 26 timeline.

Fidelity’s request to include in-kind redemptions in its spot Bitcoin ETF and the Ethereum counterpart was also delayed by the SEC. In this case, the regulator did not even provide a timeline for when a final decision might be made. It is not clear what the Commission’s plans are, but Matthew Sigel believes it should be looked into.