Cboe filed several amendments for Bitcoin spot ETFs on July 11, indicating that surveillance sharing agreements (SSAs) with Coinbase have been finalized.
Beginning in late June, Cboe filed for spot Bitcoin ETFs on behalf of several asset managers. Later, on June 30, the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had returned those filings to Cboe. The regulator reportedly took issue with the fact that the proposals did not identify or detail the spot Bitcoin exchange that would provide a surveillance-sharing agreement.
Cboe responded by resubmitting the various applications on June 30, which suggested that the exchange “expected” to enter an SSA with Coinbase.
However, those filings only described a tentative agreement between Cboe and Coinbase, whereas the latest June 11 filings indicate that the exchange has “reached an agreement on terms” with Coinbase. The agreement was reached on June 21.
The latest filings concern proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs from five applicants: Fidelity, Invesco, WisdomTree, VanEck, and Ark 21 Shares.
Nasdaq, which is handling ETF applications for other firms has also established an SSA with Coinbase. This update is mentioned in a June 29 filing for BlackRock’s ETF, publicized on July 3, and in a June 30 filing for Valkyrie Investments’ ETF.
SSAs are key to future ETF approval
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has previously rejected spot Bitcoin ETF applications and related prosed rule changes due to insufficient surveillance-sharing agreements. Specifically, the regulator has decided in all cases to date that the proposed agreements are not sufficient to prevent market manipulation.
Various members of the crypto industry have emphasized that surveillance-sharing agreements are the most important factor in any possible future ETF approval.
Former SEC chair Jay Clayton, WisdomTree executive Jeremy Schwartz, and Evolve ETFs executive Elliot Johnson have all commented on the matter in recent weeks.
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