Newsflash: SEC Stays Wednesday Decision Denying Bitcoin ETF Applications, Commission Will Review

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday stayed three orders denying bitcoin ETF applications that sought to list a total of nine such funds on regulated exchanges including NYSE Arca.

Those orders, as CCN reported, were issued on Wednesday, further confirming the agency’s hesitancy to make cryptocurrency more accessible to retail investors through conventional financial products.

However, in a potential reversal of fortune, the SEC on Thursday announced that the Commission, led by Chairman Jay Clayton, will review those orders, which had originally been drafted by staff members on behalf of agency leadership.

As SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce explained on Twitter, the Commission commonly delegates such rulings to staff members but may review their decisions after the fact.

In English: the Commission (Chairman and Commissioners) delegates some tasks to its staff. When the staff acts in such cases, it acts on behalf of the Commission. The Commission may review the staff's action, as will now happen here.

— Hester Peirce (@HesterPeirce) August 23, 2018

Peirce — who criticized the agency’s recent disapproval of a Winklevoss-backed bitcoin ETF — posted a copy of a letter, sent by the agency and addressed to NYSE, attesting to the fact that the chairman and commissioners will personally review the applications to determine whether SEC staff ruled appropriately.

The letter does not give a timetable for when the Commission will make that determination.

Developing…

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