The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended its review period on the launch of crypto asset management company 7RCC’s Bitcoin spot ETF (exchange-traded fund).
SEC Extends Deadline For 7RCC’s Bitcoin Spot ETF
In a notice published on Thursday, May 2nd, the SEC said it will now decide to approve or disapprove the 7RCC Bitcoin spot and Carbon Credit Futures ETF by June 24, 2024. This represents an almost two-month (45 days) extension from the initial deadline, which was set for May 10.
The financial regulator said in the filing:
The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change.
The application submitted to the SEC in December 2023 shows that 7RCC’s fund is designed to provide direct exposure to Bitcoin alongside carbon credits. The firm’s filing revealed that the ETF will track the changes in the premier cryptocurrency’s price and carbon credit futures based on the Vinter Bitcoin Carbon Credits Index.
The ETF intends to invest 80% of its assets in Bitcoin and 20% in financial instruments, such as swaps, that provide exposure to carbon credit futures contracts tied to emissions allowances. Based on 7RCC’s application, the carbon credits are related to the European Union Emissions Trading System, the California Carbon Allowance, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative.
Crypto exchange Gemini has been named as the custodian of the Bitcoin Spot ETF. If approved, this fund will offer a new dimension to the ETF market, especially after the launch of 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in January.
SEC To Deny Ether Spot ETFs: Michael Saylor
Another exchange-traded product awaiting the greenlight of the SEC is the Ether spot ETF. Unfortunately, conversations around the potential approval of the investment product have not been optimistic in the past few weeks.
MicroStrategy Executive Chairman and Co-founder Michael Saylor is the latest personality to dampen any hopes of seeing the ETH spot ETF launch in the United States. Speaking at MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin For Corporations conference, the Bitcoin advocate speculated that the SEC would label Ether as a security.
Saylor mentioned that the financial regulator could also designate other tokens, including BNB, SOL, XRP, and ADA as unregistered crypto asset securities. The MicroStrategy CEO said:
None of [these tokens] will ever be wrapped by a spot ETF, none of them will be accepted by Wall Street, and none of them will be accepted by mainstream institutional investors as crypto assets.
Michael Saylor is a vocal supporter of Bitcoin, as shown by his firm’s consistent BTC acquisition. As Bitcoinist reported on April 30, MicroStrategy holds 214,400 BTC – worth roughly $13.5 billion as of this writing.
Bitcoin price recovers above $63,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart from TradingView