On 10 Jan 2024, the SEC finally approved 10 spot Bitcoin ETFs. Chairman Gary Gensler said that the commission found it best to approve the ETFs after the court decided in favour of Grayscale Investments. The ETFs were approved 10 years after the first spot Bitcoin ETF application by Gemini.
The statement by Gary Gensler stated that there were 10 Spot Bitcoin ETF approval. The total number of applicants however stand at 13.
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Gary Gensler’s Begrudging Statement
We are now faced with a new set of filings similar to those we have disapproved in the past. Circumstances, however, have changed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Commission failed to adequately explain its reasoning in disapproving the listing and trading of Grayscale’s proposed ETP (the Grayscale Order).[1]
The court therefore vacated the Grayscale Order and remanded the matter to the Commission. Based on these circumstances and those discussed more fully in the approval order, I feel the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot bitcoin ETP shares.
Gary Gensler, Chairperson US SEC
Doesn’t Mean Other ETFs will be Approved
He also said that if the commission has approved the Bitcoin ETF, it does not mean that they will approve other ETFs. He went to call Bitcoin as a “non-security commodity”. It is to be noted the the SEC has also claimed the same status for Ethereum.
Whether Ripple is completely non-security commodity is up to the decision of the case which has been scheduled in 2024.
Till now there are 10 approvals which still leaves the fate of the other 3 in question. I am tracking the matter since 2021 and I believe that their approval was not done due to technical differences is fees and other disclosures after which they soon will be approved too.
SEC Will Take Steps for Investor Protection
His statement also concluded that the SEC will now take a more strict approach towards exchanges, sponsors and providers of these Bitcoin ETFs and ensure that they provide full disclosure to the investors.
Gensler presented his opinion that with these spot Bitcoin ETF, investors who were till now just buying Bitcoins will now be more protected in their investments. However, I believe that this would not create any difference since both ETFs and directly buying Bitcoins would track the same Bitcoin price only. Yet, there might be a difference in profitability as entry points to the asset might differ in case of ETFs and direct purchases.
Gensler Still Thinks Spot Bitcoin ETFs are Inferior
His last comment that was on the press release stated that spot Bitcoin ETFs were inferior to other ETFs such as metals because Bitcoin is speculative while metals have wide industrial and consumer base.
2023, Das Crypto. This article is provided for information purposes only and is not meant to be used as a financial, legal, tax or any other kind of advice. Viewers are advised to consult proper experts before taking any action.
