SEC Says Bitcoin Spot ETF Filings Inadequate

SEC says spot ETFs filing inadequate, BTC price tumbles

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly deemed recent filings to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF as insufficient, causing a ripple effect that saw Bitcoin prices fall over 3%, according to the Wall Street Journal. The filings, including those from financial giants BlackRock and Fidelity, were noted as lacking in clarity and comprehensiveness. A key concern was the absence of detailed "surveillance-sharing agreements," which are crucial to identifying potential market manipulators.

As it stands, these agreements would have to be in place with a regulated market of substantial size, as the SEC had specified in previous ETF rejection orders. The trading platform of such a market would have to be the same as the one the exchange-traded product (ETP) is based on. Currently, no federal regulator oversees spot Bitcoin markets, an issue the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has been pushing to rectify for years.

The asset managers involved have the option to revise their applications and refile, with CBOE reportedly indicating plans to do so. Despite the setback, the SEC has chosen not to comment on individual filings, marking yet another twist in the tumultuous journey towards a Bitcoin ETF.

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BCH rallies 70% in a week

While there has been widespread speculation about a potential Bitcoin ETF due to a sudden influx of applications, the price movements of a certain cryptocurrency seem to have been overlooked. 

Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which originated from a Bitcoin blockchain fork in 2017, soared to an annual peak of $305 on Thursday, marking a 110% increase in just a week. 

Cryptocurrency journalist Colin Wu suggests that South Korean traders probably had a significant role in this price surge. Wu pointed to CoinMarketCap data, which revealed that Upbit, South Korea's biggest crypto exchange, had a trading volume of $350 million for the BCH/Korean Won pair. This accounted for almost a quarter of BCH's total worldwide trading volume.

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Coinbase completes audits for L2 mainnet launch

Coinbase, the cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Wednesday that their Ethereum layer-2 network, Base, is nearing its mainnet launch and has undergone rigorous security checks. In a recent blog post, Coinbase revealed that over a hundred individuals scrutinized the network's code during an audit competition. Despite a thorough examination of the network's structure, no significant issues were found by the experts.

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Crypto recognized as a regulated financial activity in the UK

King Charles has officially signed the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 into law on Thursday, as confirmed in a press release from the UK government, marking a reformative milestone in the United Kingdom's legal system.

The newly enacted law acknowledges cryptocurrency trading in the UK as a supervised financial operation. It modifies the Financial Services and Markets Act to classify cryptocurrencies as "cryptographically protected digital expressions of value or contractual rights," thus positioning them as regulated financial resources, commodities, or investments.

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South Korea to tackle unfair trading

The South Korean government is implementing measures to safeguard cryptocurrency investors from collapses similar to Do Kwon's Terra ecosystem, by approving a new cryptocurrency law. 

On the last day of June, the National Assembly gave the green light to the Virtual Asset User Protection law. This legislation aims to supervise unfair trading activities and provide protection to cryptocurrency investors, as per the reports from the domestic news outlet, SBS Biz.

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Other breaking news

• SMG halts Ethereum
• Polygon announces Polygon 2.0 architecture 
• Lido Treasury staking
• Centauri Bridge launched
• deBridge now live on Solana

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Wrapping up

In closing, today we've seen the SEC's continued caution on spot BTC ETFs, causing a dip in Bitcoin, while Bitcoin Cash surged 70%. Coinbase's Ethereum layer-2 network moves closer to launch, while major legal changes in the UK and South Korea continue to shape the crypto landscape. Remember, the crypto market never sleeps, so stay alert and see you next week. Enjoy your weekend!