VanEck concludes SEC should approve Bitcoin ETF after approving Bitcoin futures ETFs in 2021

VanEck, one of the first companies in the world to file for a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), is not giving up on its efforts to introduce a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

The company has re-submitted its application for a Bitcoin ETF backed by physical assets to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC denied VanEck's previous spot Bitcoin ETF request on Nov. 12, 2021. This was after it rejected the firm's latest Bitcoin ETF application, which was filed on June 24. The regulatory body cited the fund’s inability to meet standards that protect investors and the public interest as well as to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” in its decision.

In the latest filing, VanEck gave a broad range of reasons for the SEC to approve a Bitcoin ETF this time.

VanEck, the ETF company, said that U.S. funds can still get exposure to Bitcoin even though there is no U.S.-listed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETP). This is because many U.S. ETPs use Canadian BTC ETPs to gain exposure to spot BTC, VanEck explained, saying:

“Approving this proposal — and others like it — would provide U.S. ETFs and mutual funds with a U.S.-listed and regulated products to provide such access rather than relying on either flawed products or products listed and primarily regulated in other countries.”

Cointelegraph reported that Canada was one of the first countries in the world to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF with the introduction of Purpose's Bitcoin ETF in February 2021.

VanEck explained that, after the SEC allowed Bitcoin futures-based ETFs, approving a spot Bitcoin ETF would be a logical next step. As previously reported, VanEck's BTC futures ETF started trading on the Chicago Board Options Exchange on Nov. 16, 2021.

"After the CME's Bitcoin futures market was recognized as a regulated market, the only possible outcome is that ETPs based on spot Bitcoin will be approved, since it is also a large and regulated market," the new filing states.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Henry Jim said that VanEck's latest Bitcoin spot ETF proposal has an end date of March 3, 2023.

VanEck is known for being one of the first U.S. firms to file for a Bitcoin futures ETF; it originally filed for a physically-backed Bitcoin ETF in June 2018, but the SEC repeatedly postponed its decision over the proposal to eventually reject it three years later.