US SEC denies yet another Bitcoin ETF proposal

US SEC once again decided to deny a proposal for launching Bitcoin ETFs, once again due to concerns of manipulation of the Bitcoin market. According to the regulator, the proposal — submitted by Wilshire Phoenix — simply did not offer enough evidence to show that the Bitcoin market is immune to manipulation by malicious entities.

The SEC has already rejected numerous ETF proposals in the past, causing the market to remain in a stalemate with the US lawmakers. The proposal submitted by the Wilshere Phoenix is only the latest one to be rejected.

Will the struggle to convince the SEC to continue?

Getting a Bitcoin ETF approval has been one of the main goals of numerous companies interested in offering the product. Many expect that gaining approval would have multiple positive consequences, such as bringing additional attention to the crypto sector, attracting institutional investors, and also allowing the crypto price to grow.

However, with the SEC continuously rejecting one proposal after another, many now believe that the ETFs are no longer worth the effort of looking into.

Over the years, similar proposals were submitted by the likes of the Winklevoss twins, Bitwise, and many others. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission denied them all and only rarely granting them a second look.

On one occasion when the SEC was willing to grant a second look to a proposal and was only days away from announcing the decision, the applicant withdrew it. This was back in the days of a government shutdown, and the decision to withdraw the proposal came out of the desire to submit it later, and not have it rejected just so that it wouldn’t be granted by default, as the law would have demanded.

As mentioned, the SEC’s concerns about market manipulation are believed the be the reason for all of the rejections, and many are wondering if the regulator would ever find a proposal to its satisfaction.