SEC Asks Bitwise to Address Concerns About Proposed Spot Bitcoin ETF

The regulator’s concerns include possible share manipulation and liquidity.

By Michael Bellusci

Feb 2, 2022 at 12:43 a.m. UTC

Updated Feb 2, 2022 at 3:26 p.m. UTC

Bitwise Chief Investment Officer Matt Hougan (CoinDesk archives)

Michael Bellusci

Michael Bellusci is CoinDesk's crypto reporter focused on public companies and digital asset firms.

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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked Bitwise to clarify how the investment firm will prevent share manipulation, fraud and other potential issues in its proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a notice to the company on Tuesday.

The agency also flagged its concerns about the Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust's liquidity and transparency and requested more color on the “suitability” of bitcoin as the underlying asset for the fund.
The SEC’s request veered from its serial denials to date of other proposed spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETP).
Over the past two months, the agency has rejected spot bitcoin ETF applications from WisdomTree, Krypton, SkyBridge and Fidelity. It is weighing a number of other applications from investment firms.
In December the SEC delayed a decision on the spot bitcoin applications of Bitwise and Grayscale, a unit of Digital Currency Group, which is also the parent company of CoinDesk.
Bitwise will have 21 days to respond to the SEC’s concerns.

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