The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently granted extensions on the applications of four Bitcoin ETFs, changing their deadlines from November to December.
The Bitcoin exchange-traded funds Valkyrie, WisdomTree, Global X and Kryptoin proposals have been granted an extension until December 8, December 11, November 21 and December 24, respectively. Some of them had been granted extensions previously.
"The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised in the comment letters that have been submitted in connection therewith," stated the SEC.
Many were expecting that under the leadership of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, the institution would adopt a more lenient position regarding cryptocurrencies. However, so far the agency has not approved any Bitcoin ETF application. The regulatory agency tends to delay the answer to such applications right before rejecting them, so now it is expected that those ETFs requests will be rejected at some point.
Gensler has previously stated support for Bitcoin futures products as opposed to other alternatives. His hesitance towards Bitcoin ETFs comes from the belief that Bitcoin markets are manipulated, making them risky for investors.
Cryptocurrencies have been facing regulatory pressures across the world. The Chinese government recently decided to outlaw the mining, distribution and use of cryptocurrencies, putting enormous pressure on cryptocurrency distributors that offer their products in mainland China and pushing some of them to restrict their services and remove Chinese accounts.
The US Treasury Department is currently working on a framework that would regulate the fast-growing cryptocurrency sector. Now the US government is attempting to regulate stablecoins, which are considered a bridge between cryptocurrencies and more traditional media of exchange. The main concern the regulators have regarding stablecoins have to do with stablecoin firms owning enough liquid assets to back the value of their currencies.
Despite the regulatory pressures, Bitcoin has managed to gain ground since the beginning of the week, advancing by 4.96% against the US dollar and increasing for the second consecutive week. On Monday's session, the cryptocurrency gained 2.09% against the greenback, closing the session at the 49,252.0 level.
By 12:17 GMT, Bitcoin went up by 4.93% against the US dollar, hitting the 49,961.0 level.