Bitcoin slips after SEC reportedly calls ETF filings inadequate, but is heading for a winning month

The price of bitcoin fell on Friday following a report that recent bitcoin filings from big names like BlackRock and Fidelity have been deemed inadequate in the eyes of the SEC.

Bitcoin lost more than 1% and was last trading at $30,191.00, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier in the day it briefly broke above the $31,000 level.

The move came after the Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission told Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, both of which filed bitcoin ETF applications on behalf of various institutions this month, that the filings aren’t sufficiently clear or comprehensive.

Specifically, the SEC said it returned the filings because they didn’t name the spot bitcoin exchange that the Nasdaq and Cboe would have a “surveillance-sharing agreement” with or provide enough detail about the arrangement, according to the report. The filings can be resubmitted.

The SEC has said time and again that they can’t let a bitcoin ETF go forward until one can demonstrate it will be sufficiently structured to prevent fraud and manipulation, in response to previous attempts at a successful filing. The surveillance agreement was included in BlackRock’s filing this month to satisfy that worry. Other funds have similar language in their applications.

WisdomTree and Cboe did not responded to requests for comment by CNBC. Nasdaq, BlackRock’s iShares and Fidelity, which refiled its paperwork for a bitcoin ETF Thursday, declined to comment. The SEC also declined to comment.

Bitcoin has been trading sideways all week following a 17% rally in the previous week driven primarily from the wave of applications for a spot bitcoin ETF. Those filings followed one earlier in the month by BlackRock, which had injected some optimism into the market and helped push bitcoin over the $30,000 level, which it has struggled to maintain this quarter.

That newfound hope has helped sentiment in the industry, which has been under immense pressure from U.S. regulators and specifically the SEC. Bitcoin is on pace to end this week down about 2%. Nevertheless, it’s up more than 11% for the month and over 80% in 2023.

— CNBC’s Jesse Pound contributed reporting.