Crypto Prices Edge Higher as SEC Says It Will Review Decision to Block Bitcoin ETF

Cryptocurrency prices gained on Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it would review a decision by its staff to deny nine Bitcoin ETF funds from trading.

Bitcoin was up 1.3% to $6,494.1 at 11:55AM ET (03:55 GMT) on the Bitifinex exchange.

Ethereum edged up 0.9% to $274.1 on the Bitifinex exchange.

Ripple traded up 1.0% to $0.32299 in the last 24 hours on the Poloniex exchange, while Litecoin was also up 2.7% to $56.629.

On Wednesday, the SEC rejected applications from three companies to list their Bitcoin ETF funds, as the regulator expressed concern about fraud and manipulation of bitcoin markets, and said that the proposals had not met the regulator’s requirement "that a national securities exchange's rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.

But the SEC's four commissioners will review those decisions, according to letters the SEC posted on its website.

The commissioners and the SEC chairman have the power to review the decision if they desire, according to a Reuters reports on Friday.

The SEC also rejected the Winklevloss ETF application in July that would have traded physical bitcoin.

“The markets are small and the volumes on some of these exchanges are low, which makes it such that manipulation is possible,” said Chris Matta, co-founder of Crescent Crypto Asset Management. “That’s their major concern and, without having any sort of regulatory body stepping in and policing people doing that, it’s always a possibility.” A Bitcoin ETF will not start trading this year, he said.

The regulator announced in July that it postponed a decision on approving VanEck ETF until Sept. 30.

In other news, China, one of the largest sources of crypto demand, was reported to be moving to block more than 100 overseas crypto exchanges from offering trading services to domestic investors.

According to Shanghai Securities Times, the China National Fintech Risk Rectification Office had identified the IP address of 124 foreign trading platforms that it was planning to block access to as it steps up efforts to monitor the commercial used of cryptocurrencies.