US SEC Halts Review After Approving Bitwise Crypto Index Fund Conversion

According to a report by Jinse Finance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Tuesday took "accelerated approval" action on Bitwise Crypto Index Fund (BITW)'s conversion application, but then quickly halted the process and announced further review. SEC Assistant Secretary Sherry R. Haywood stated that, pursuant to Rule 431 of the Commission's Rules of Practice, the approval will be suspended until further notice from the Commission. The Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund is primarily composed of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Solana, and Polkadot, with allocations weighted by market capitalization. This situation is similar to how the SEC handled Grayscale's Digital Large Cap Fund earlier this month—approving first, then pausing. Analysts believe the SEC may be waiting to establish a unified framework for crypto ETF listing standards to streamline the current approval process, which can take up to 240 days.