SEC Overrules Proposed Rule Change by BZX to List and Trade Shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust

 

On July 26, 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC“), over the objection of Commissioner Peirce, disapproved a proposed rule change application by the Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. (“BZX“) that would have permitted it to list and trade shares of the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust. This Order, effectively, reaffirmed and superseded the action taken by the SEC on March 10, 2017, acting through authority delegated to the Division of Trading and Markets, that denied a similar application. In issuing its July 26 Order, the SEC determined that BZX had “not met its burden under the [Securities Exchange of 1934] and the Commission’s Rules of Practice to demonstrate that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Exchange Section 6(b)(5), in particular the requirement that its rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”