Bitcoin pares losses after WSJ report on 'inadequate' spot ETF filings

Bitcoin pared losses on Friday after shedding more than 4% in just 20 minutes in the wake of a Wall Street Journal report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told the Nasdaq and Cboe exchanges that recent filings for spot ETF funds weren’t “clear and comprehensive.”

The world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, which had been trading around $31,081 before the report, quickly dove to $29,770, falling below $30,000 for the first time in a week, according to data from CoinGecko. 

It's since pared some losses and is currently trading at $30,603, up 0.1% over the past 24 hours. Some analysts questioned if the news was as bad as the WSJ's headline made it seem.

"This isn't as bad as headline," Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said on Twitter. "Basically SEC wants them to name the 'crypto exchange' and give more details on SSA. That's understandable, arguably good news. I was under impression they'd have to update that as well."

Surveillance sharing arrangements

The WSJ reported that the SEC had returned several recent filings for spot ETFs because they didn’t provide enough information about surveillance sharing arrangements. Asset managers can update language and refile, the WSJ reported.

Fidelity rejoined the race to a spot bitcoin ETF on Thursday, following other firms like BlackRock, WisdomTree and Invesco, which have all made similar filings in recent weeks.

The WSJ cited a Cboe spokeswoman as saying it intends to update and refile. Nasdaq and the SEC declined to comment, the WSJ said. Nasdaq and Fidelity declined to comment when contacted by The Block. 

Bitcoin blew past $30,000 earlier this month in the wake of the flurry of new ETF announcements, kicked off by BlackRock's filing on June 15. Despite Friday's decline, it's still up 11.2% over the past month. 

(Updates bitcoin price.)