SEC’s Crypto Flip-Flop: Wilde’s Withering Wit!

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Key Insights:

  • The SEC, in a dazzling display of indecision, green-lights Bitwise’s crypto fund to ETF status, then yanks it back faster than a bad joke at a dinner party. 😂
  • This farce mirrors the SEC’s earlier tango with Grayscale, where approval turned to pause in the blink of an eye, proving bureaucracy’s flair for drama. 😒
  • Whispers abound that politics or a lack of rules are to blame—ah, the eternal comedy of regulators fumbling with innovation like Wilde with a typewriter. 😉

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, that paragon of predictability, recently bestowed its blessing on Bitwise’s plan to transform its crypto index fund (BITW) into an ETF. But lo, mere hours later, they pulled the rug out from under it, adding to their repertoire of mixed signals that would make even the most erratic lover blush.

This sudden about-face has regulators resembling characters in a Wildean play—full of sound and fury, signifying nothing but confusion in the crypto investment world. One can’t help but chuckle at the irony: an agency meant to instill order behaving like a capricious muse. 😅

What Is the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund?

Ah, Bitwise’s 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW), born in 2017, offers investors a taste of the crypto carnival without the mess of individual tickets. It hoards about 90% of its $1.68 billion in Bitcoin and Ethereum, with the rest sprinkled on altcoins like Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, Avalanche, Bitcoin Cash, Uniswap, and Polkadot—truly a who’s who of digital darlings, or perhaps digital delinquents, depending on the day’s market mood. 😏

Rebalanced monthly with the precision of a clockwork orange, it sports a rather steep 2.5% expense ratio. Should it have waltzed into ETF-dom, it would have been the first multi-asset spot crypto ETF in America—a milestone that might have made even Wilde raise an eyebrow in mock admiration. But alas, dreams are deferred. 😉

A Repeat of SEC and Grayscale’s ETF Saga?

This isn’t the SEC’s first dip into the pool of perplexity; earlier this month, Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund suffered a similar fate, approved one moment and paused the next, like a suitor proposing and then retracting in the same breath. The language? Identical drivel about reviewing “delegated action.” One suspects political meddling, as analysts like James Seyffart quip on X that Bitwise wasn’t even on the docket yet—timing as impeccable as a Wilde epigram. 😂

We have approval of the 10 Index fund — but just like Grayscale’s earlier this month, Bitwise has been stayed by one or multiple commissioners. Meaning they cannot actually convert it into an ETF … *yet* — James Seyffart (@JSeyff)

What’s Really Going On at the SEC?

Insiders are spinning theories faster than a dervish. Scott Johnsson from Van Buren Capital suggests the initial nod was a sneaky bypass of Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw’s crypto skepticism—imagine dodging a critic like Wilde evading a dull conversation. Or perhaps it’s a ploy to evade review timelines, the sort of “funny business” that would make even a saint swear. 😠

This is another crypto index ETP, and it’s also been stayed pursuant to Rule 431 (same as Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap) to review the delegated authority order. I have to wonder what is going on at the SEC. I can excuse GDLC as an unforeseen unilateral Crenshaw wrench, but this… — Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson)

Meanwhile, Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas posits that the SEC is stalling for a grand reveal of crypto ETF standards—defining which assets make the cut, how they’re valued, and what disclosures are demanded. “I think they want to put out their generic listing standards first,” he says, as if waiting for the perfect punchline in a comedy of errors. 😉

Lack of Clear Rules Are Slowing ETF Progress

The crux of the chaos? No coherent playbook for multi-asset crypto ETFs. Tokens like XRP and Cardano linger in limbo without solo ETF approvals, leaving the SEC twitchy about endorsing funds that might bite back. Until Bitcoin and Ethereum’s cousins get their due classification, expect more hesitation—regulators tiptoeing around crypto like Wilde around sincerity. 😂 In short, progress crawls while wit withers. 😏

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2025-07-23 21:57