- Fidelity Investments pushed for the approval of their Bitcoin ETF with the SEC earlier this month
- Bloomberg reports that the investment firm met with the regulator and discussed their application
- Fidelity feels the time is right for a Bitcoin ETF but the SEC is yet to agree
Fidelity Investments urged the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve a Bitcoin ETF in a meeting with the regulator, according to Bloomberg. The outlet reported that executives from the firm’s digital asset division met with SEC officials on September 8 where they listed the reasons why the time is right for a Bitcoin ETF, which has seen multiple rejections over the years. There are currently 11 Bitcoin ETFs up for consideration by the SEC, including Fidelity themselves, although there are no signs yet that the SEC will yield this time round.
Fidelity Puts Forward Bitcoin ETF Case
Bloomberg reported that Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity Digital Assets, which launched in 2019, told the SEC that an increase in investor appetite for virtual currencies, a growth in Bitcoin holders, and the existence of similar funds in other countries was evidence that the time was right to approve a Bitcoin ETF in the U.S.
However, the SEC’s arguments to date have tended to be around the Bitcoin ecosystem itself, and with manipulation of the price and large crashes still as common as they have been in previous years, the SEC will take some convincing that those problems have been eradicated.
SEC Favors Mutual Fund-style Rules
Other SEC heads have clearly not been keen on a Bitcoin ETF, but current chair Gary Gensler said earlier this year that he might be for it as long as it complies with the strictest rules for mutual funds. However, most Bitcoin ETF applications in the system, including Fidelity’s, are filed under laws dating back to the 1930s that allow stock exchanges to list the products.
