Would-be bitcoin ETF investors are in wait-and-see mode as the Securities and Exchange Commission reconsiders whether to allow the first bitcoin exchange-traded fund to come to fruition.To the dismay of many, the SEC rejected the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF (COIN) in a March 10 decision, citing a lack of regulation and surveillance-sharing agreements between exchanges., responded to the SEC's verdict by filing a "petition for review" of the disapproval on March 24.Bats argued that the commission's initial conclusion "is clearly erroneous," "inconsistent with prior ETP [exchange-traded products] approval orders" and that "the manipulation concerns ... are overstated and largely theoretical.":Top tech ETFs of the yearSEC sends mixed signals about controversial ETFsThis Trump ETF trade completely unwinds Bats urged the SEC to approve its proposed rule change, which would open the door to the listing of the ETF and "provide investors access to bitcoin through a regulated and transparent investment vehicle."

On April 24 the SEC agreed to consider Bats' petition for review and asked for public comments on the original disapproval order.The last of those comments was submitted on May 15, setting the stage for a new round of deliberations by the commission.High bar for approval Though hopes are high that the bitcoin ETF will eventually be approved — public comments on the fund have been largely positive — analysts aren't confident the SEC will turn around so soon after its previous negative ruling and suddenly give it the green light.Spencer Bogart, managing director and head of research for Blockchain Capital, is skeptical that the SEC will change its tune on the bitcoin ETF."Their reason for disapproval was the underlying markets for bitcoin, which haven't changed in the weeks since they made their decision," he said."One of the issues was that Bats hadn't set up surveillance-sharing agreements with the major exchanges on which bitcoin is traded, with the purpose of identifying and stomping out market manipulation.

Even if they did, a lot of those exchanges reside in jurisdictions that don't have much of a regulatory body that can go and take action against people that are doing something bad to the market."However, Bogart did leave open the possibility that the SEC's thinking could change on the ETF if a new set of people look into the matter."It is possible that, in the short time period from when the SEC disapproved to when the petition was granted, there was a significant regime change at the SEC," explained Bogart."You could have a different group of people who want to review the matter because they aren't sure the decision to disapprove was a good choice.I've heard whisperings that there are many people within this administration who are friendly or at least amicable to digital currencies like bitcoin."Bitcoin surging even without ETF Regardless of what the future holds for bitcoin ETFs, the digital currency itself isn't fazed.Since March 10 — the day the SEC originally rejected the Winklevoss Bitcoin ETF — the price of bitcoin is up an incredible 91 percent, last hitting an all-time high of more than $2,200 on Monday.

Year-to-date, bitcoin is up 130 percent.If anything, the price only accelerated on the upside after the SEC's disapproval, though most analysts attribute the surge to other factors.bitcoin spreadsheet"The big driver of the rally seems to be what's going on in Japan and Korea," noted Bogart.grafico diario bitcoin"In Japan, recently there's been a change to acknowledge bitcoin as a legal payment method.bitcoin revenue calculatorThat in and of itself wasn't significant as, generally, people don't like to spend bitcoin; they like to hold it."bitcoin zu chf"But Japan's move provides some regulatory clarity, and now there are major tech companies that want to open up bitcoin exchanges in Japan," Bogart said.bitcoin an der borse kaufen

"So what you saw was volume in existing bitcoin exchanges in Japan went through the roof and pushed the prices up.gh/s bitcoin minerKoreans look closely at Japan and tend to imitate a lot of activity there, so there's been a lot of demand from that area of the world also."most powerful bitcoin miner 2014"That's been the story of bitcoin," added Bogart.ethereum moon"A lot of times it's just sitting there doing nothing, and then either something falls apart in a particular corner of the world or in some corner of the world, some regulatory agency decides to be favorable to bitcoin, and then you see these random rallies.bitcoin index seeks clear value pictureThen as you begin to rally, speculators pile in and it becomes a self-perpetuating cycle."

Skip to Main Content Good-Bye!(Leaving the SEC Website) Oops!We can't find this file We're sorry, but the page you're looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.What should you do?If you typed the page url, check the spelling.Go to our home page and browse through our topics for the information you want.Go to our site index to browse for the page or section you are looking for.Use our search engine to find the information you want.To report a broken link, please email webmaster@sec.gov.We regret any inconvenience, and we thank you for your interest in the SEC website.Bitcoin has risen around 2 percent in the past day, pushing towards its all-time high on renewed hope that U.S.regulators could approve a key trading product for the cryptocurrency.The price of Bitcoin against the dollar stood at around $1281.17 during mid-morning trade in London, according to CoinDesk data, up from $1251.46 a day ago.Optimism in the market has come from an announcement in the U.S.

that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reviewing its decision to reject a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.Last month, the SEC denied an application by the Winklevoss twins to list the ETF, which would have made it the first product of its kind in the U.S.The proposal involves listing the ETF on the Bats BZX exchange, one of the largest U.S.Bats filed a notice of petition to review the SEC decision which has now been accepted.It means the SEC will look into its initial decision to reject the ETF."The Commission hereby establishes that any party to the action or other person may file a written statement in support of or in opposition to the Disapproval Order on or before May 15, 2017," the SEC said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.Traders are hoping that this at least opens the doors to the ETF getting a second shot at being approved."The news of the review has definitely excited speculators, although it's unclear if this will alter the SEC's decision.

So the gains in the last 24 hours may be temporary," Thomas Glucksmann, head of marketing at regulated cryptocurrency trading platform Gatecoin, told CNBC via email.In the last 24 hours from the time of publication, nearly two-thirds of trades were to buy bitcoin while the rest were to sell, showing the current bullishness around the asset.Bitcoin has been on a steady rise for the past month, up around 23 percent.It is also closing in on its all-time high of $1,325.81 hit in March.The price movement has been supported by a number of factors including Japan beginning to accept bitcoin as legal currency as well as the Russian government making comments about looking to recognize cryptocurrencies as legal financial instruments in 2018.But bitcoin has also had its recent problems.There is a debate among the community over the future of the underlying technology and how that plays out in the future.For a full rundown of this issue, click here.There were also problems this month with customers on some bitcoin exchanges struggling to withdraw fiat currency from their accounts.