SEC Halts Trading on Bitcoin Tracker One (“CXBTF”) and Ether Tracker One (“CETHF”)

The SEC has halted traded on Bitcoin Tracker One (“CXBTF”) and Ether Tracker One (“CETHF”) until September 20th.

NOTE: This doesn’t mean trading will resume Sept. 20th. The reality is a suspension can be followed up with a permaban depending on the specifics of what is happening (check out SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce’s insights on this / the SEC rules).

The stated reasoning is that they don’t believe investors fully understand these products. The unstated reasoning, one might speculate, has to do with the SEC wanting to control the crypto related products on the market (stopping any sort of loophole until they are ready to approve an ETF, if they are ever ready).

In general Bitcoin Tracker One (“CXBTF”) and Ether Tracker One (“CETHF”) are investment products meant to track the price of Bitcoin and Ether respectively.

They are listed on the Nasdaq exchange in Stockholm, but tradable through some U.S. brokers and exchanges by paying a fee.

Learn more about how Bitcoin Tracker one works.

The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities CXBTF and CETHF because of confusion amongst market participants regarding these instruments.

– SEC release PDF (see the link below to find it)

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the temporary suspension of trading in the securities Bitcoin Tracker One (“CXBTF”) and Ether Tracker One (“CETHF”) commencing at 5:30 pm EDT Sept. 9, 2018 and terminating at 11:59 pm EDT Sept. 20, 2018. https://t.co/5z1vEYFBFB

— SEC_News (@SEC_News) September 9, 2018