Newsflash: SEC Slaps Down Two NYSE Bitcoin ETF Proposals

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Wednesday denied two more bitcoin ETF applications, continuing its stance of hostility toward the much-anticipated cryptocurrency investment products.

Those proposals, filed by NYSE Arca, sought to list bitcoin ETFs from fund providers ProShares and Direxion. These particular ETFs would not have held physical bitcoin but rather would have traded in the bitcoin futures products available on Chicago-based derivatives exchanges CBOE and CME.

The denials did not come as a surprise, as most financial analysts have said that even the most bullish scenario for a cryptocurrency ETF is not likely to see one approved before 2019.

Unlike in previous instances — most notably when the SEC denied the Winklevoss twins’ bitcoin ETF application just one month ago — the news did not lead to an immediate sell-off in the cryptocurrency spot markets. Rather, the bitcoin price continued to trade just below the $6,400 mark, likely because traders recognized that one was not likely to be approved in the near-term and priced in that fact accordingly.

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