Cryptocurrencies slumped Wednesday, with Bitcoin tumbling below US$6,500 for the first time since July, after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission postponed a decision on whether to allow the listing of an exchange-traded fund backed by the largest digital currency.
Bitcoin retreated as much as 6.1 per cent to US$6,457 at 12:43 p.m. in Hong Kong, the lowest since July 16, according to consolidated Bloomberg pricing. Rival tokens also fell, with Ripple slumping almost 10 per cent while Ether and Litecoin sank at least 3.1 per cent, the data show.
The SEC now has until Sept. 30 to “approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove” a proposed rule change from Cboe Global Markets Inc. that would allow the listing of a fund from VanEck Associates Corp. and SolidX Partners Inc. to list, the regulator said in a statement. An initial deadline was due to expire next week.
Last month’s rally in bitcoin to back above US$8,000 on optimism for approval of Bitcoin-backed ETFs and indications of wider interest in digital currencies at mainstream financial institutions such as BlackRock Inc. has all but evaporated, with the largest cryptocurrency now down more than 20 per cent from its most recent high on July 24.
The SEC denied a request to list a Bitcoin ETF run by the Winklevoss twins at the end of July, while a massive wrong-way bet on Bitcoin at Hong Kong-based exchange OKEx that burned counterparties dealt a fresh blow to confidence in digital currency trading platforms.
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