SEC denies request to create ETF tied to Bitcoin News
SEC denies request to create ETF tied to Bitcoin

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) [official website] on Friday announced its decision to reject an application [text] to create an exchange-traded fund (ETF) [investopedia backgrounder] tied to the value of Bitcoin [website], a virtually currency. The fund, proposed by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss [Winklevoss capital], would have tracked an index of assets, but would have traded like a stock. The markets where Bitcoin is currently traded are largely unregulated, prompting the SEC to deny a Bitcoin ETF due to “concerns about the potential for fraudulent or manipulative acts and practices in this market.” The Winklevoss brothers have vowed to obtain SEC regulation for Bitcoin.

The creation and use of digital currencies have been a contentious issue across the globe. The digital currencies can be transferred anonymously, unlike most hard currencies created by governments. In December 2016, a federal judge ruled [JURIST report] that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can serve a “John Doe” summons to digital-currency-services company Coinbase seeking detailed information on their customers’ 2013-2015 transactions. The summons will allow the IRS to have access to the names of all taxpayers in a particular category. In October 2015 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled [JURIST report] that converting cash into Bitcoin should be exempt from value added tax within the 28-country bloc. In April 2014 then-US Attorney General Eric Holder expressed concern [JURIST report] before the US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee with respect to the proliferation of virtual currencies, which, he asserts, have created new avenues for money laundering, drug trafficking and other illegal activity.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.