Japanese financial services conglomerate SBI Holdings denied media reports that the company had filed for crypto-related exchange-traded funds (ETFs). 

Media reports circulated Wednesday saying SBI had filed an ETF application for two products: a dual gold and crypto ETF and a dual Bitcoin (BTC) and XRP (XRP) ETF. 

The stories cited the company’s earnings report. However, as Cointelegraph reported, the earnings report did not clearly confirm whether any applications had been filed.

In a statement to Cointelegraph on Friday, an SBI representative clarified:

“Contrary to some media reports, we have not filed any applications with the authority to form an ETF related to crypto assets.” 

“It is only at the planning stage,” the SBI representative added. 

SBI Holdings says it is waiting for regulatory updates

On June 24, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) proposed recognizing specific crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act (FIEA), the rules that apply to traditional financial instruments and securities.

With Japanese regulators still considering the classification of crypto, the SBI representative told Cointelegraph that the ETF filings will come later. 

“In Japan, ETFs that incorporate crypto assets are expected to be approved in a way that aligns with the responses of the financial authorities and tax authorities,” the representative said. “Therefore, the filing will be done after these legal revisions have been made.”

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No timeline yet for crypto ETFs

The representative added that because of the current regulatory frameworks, they have not yet determined a specific timeline for filing crypto ETF applications.

The company did confirm that the application will come from SBI Global Asset Management, a subsidiary of SBI Holdings.

Asked whether the ETFs will be available to retail or institutional investors, the representative said the firm plans to target individual investors first.

The representative said that the company “advocates for and promotes the democratization of alternative investments.”

SBI added that all disclosed information on the ETF plans is limited to what appears in its earnings presentation.

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