The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed until October a decision on five bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications filed earlier this year. According to agency filings on Thursday, the applications from WisdomTree, Invesco Galaxy, Wise Origin, VanEck, and Valkyrie Digital Assets will now have comment periods extended and allow for greater public feedback.
The news caused bitcoin (BTC) to fall further, now off 4.1% over the past 24 hours to $26,100. The applicants hope to launch the first spot bitcoin ETF, which advocates have argued would allow for greater retail investment in the bitcoin space while saving investors from the troubles of setting up a wallet or having to buy bitcoin directly.
The SEC’s decision to delay was in response to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling earlier this week that some of the regulator’s arguments in rejecting bitcoin ETF applications seemed arbitrary and capricious. Judge Neomi Rao said the SEC’s denial of the application was inconsistent with the approval of a pair of bitcoin futures ETFs, and did not explain why it viewed these types of products differently given the underlying bitcoin market had a 99.9% correlation between spot and futures market prices.
The appeals court ordered the regulator to review the application once more.