BlackRock and Fidelity Among Firms Facing SEC Scrutiny

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has declared that the recent filing of spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by asset managers was insufficient in terms of clarity and comprehensiveness, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal. The SEC highlighted the lack of information regarding "surveillance-sharing agreements" with spot bitcoin exchanges in the filings.

The SEC expected that the applications would identify the specific spot bitcoin exchange with which the ETFs would establish a surveillance-sharing agreement, or at least provide comprehensive details about such arrangements. However, the agency has allowed asset managers to resubmit their filings after addressing these shortcomings.

Notably, the SEC has communicated these inadequacies to Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, which had submitted the applications on behalf of prominent asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity. The regulator previously rejected numerous spot bitcoin ETF applications, including one from Fidelity in January 2022.

The recent surge in filings followed BlackRock's entry into the race to launch the first spot Bitcoin ETF on Wall Street. BlackRock's application included a surveillance-sharing agreement, which entails sharing market trading and clearing information between entities to prevent potential market manipulation.

Following BlackRock's move, other asset managers, including ARK Invest and 21Shares, modified their applications to incorporate similar surveillance agreements. In recent days, Invesco, WisdomTree, Valkyrie, and Fidelity also resubmitted or amended their applications. ARK Invest is reportedly considered a leading contender in the race for approval.

In response to the news, $BTC fell by more than 5% to below $30,000 in a few minutes. The price of ETH dropped by more than 4% today, while the price of BCH fell by more than 10%.