SEC Approves Spot Bitcoin ETFs for Trading

The
SEC
greenlighted
several
spot
bitcoin
exchange-traded
funds
for
the
first
time
on
Wednesday,
according
to
a
filing
posted
on
the
US
regulatory
agency’s
website.
The
ETFs
can
start
trading
as
early
as
today,
Thursday.

Bitcoin
(BTCUSD)
was
mostly
flat
at
around
$46,742
following
the
SEC
news,
according
to
CoinDesk
data.
The
Bitcoin
price
was
up
2%
briefly
after
the
false
tweet,
before
coming
down.

The
approved
ETFs
are
the
Grayscale
Bitcoin
Trust
GBTC,
Bitwise
Bitcoin
ETF,
Hashdex
Bitcoin
ETF,
Blackrock’s
iShares
Bitcoin
Trust,
Valkyrie
Bitcoin
Fund,
ARK
21Shares
Bitcoin
ETF,
Invesco
Galaxy
Bitcoin
ETF,
VanEck
Bitcoin
Trust,
WisdomTree
Bitcoin
Fund,
Fidelity
Wise
Origin
Bitcoin
Fund
and
the
Franklin
Bitcoin
ETF.

The
approval
follows
years
of
failed
attempts
by
ETF
sponsors
to
list
a
spot
Bitcoin
product,
all
of
which
were
denied
by
regulators,
who
argued
that
the
markets
on
which
Bitcoin
trades
are
too
unregulated
and
vulnerable
to
market
manipulation
to
ensure
that
average
investors
would
be
protected
from
fraud.

Crypto
investors
were
eagerly
anticipating
the
approval
announcement,
which
was
expected
this
week
because
of
a
Wednesday
deadline
to
come
to
a
decision
on
one
of
the
sponsors
seeking
approval.

A
federal
judge
ruled
last
August
that
the
SEC’s
reasons
for
denying
an
application
by
Grayscale
Investments
to
list
a
bitcoin
ETF
were
“arbitrary
and
capricious”
and
in
violation
of
federal
administrative
law.

The
judge
argued
that
the
SEC’s
decision
to
approve
two
Bitcoin
futures
funds
but
to
deny
a
bitcoin
spot
ETF
was
a
breach
of
the
principle
in
the
law
that
agencies
“must
treat
like
cases
alike”
because
prices
in
the
bitcoin
futures
market
closely
tracked
those
in
the
spot
market.

The
SEC
first
approved
a
bitcoin
futures
ETF
in
late
2021
and
had
argued
that
bitcoin
spot
markets
could
not
be
sufficiently
surveilled
to
prevent
fraud
and
manipulation,
while
bitcoin
futures
markets
were
overseen
by
registered
futures
exchanges
with
sophisticated
surveillance
capabilities.

Following
the
federal
judge’s
ruling,
however,
most
experts
believed
it
was
only
a
matter
of
time
before
the
SEC
would
approve
a
spot
ETF.

Gensler
Cites
Change
of
Circumstances

SEC
Chair
Gary
Gensler
pointed
to
the
court
ruling
as
reason
for
the
commission
reversing
its
stance
on
the
issue
in
a
statement
Wednesday,
saying
that
“circumstances
have
changed”,
and
that
the
agency’s
prior
rationale
for
disapproving
the
ETF
was
no
longer
sufficient.

“Based
on
these
circumstances
(…)
I
feel
the
most
sustainable
path
forward
is
to
approve
the
listing
and
trading
of
these
spot
bitcoin
ETFs,”
he
said.

Gensler
also
cast
doubt
on
whether
today’s
decision
will
bode
well
for
the
approval
of
additional
crypto
exchange-traded
products.

“Today’s
Commission
action
is
cabined
to
ETPs
holding
one
non-security
commodity,
bitcoin,”
Gensler
said.
“It
should
in
no
way
signal
the
Commission’s
willingness
to
approve
listings
standards
for
crypto
asset
securities.”

Gensler
added
that
the
decision
doesn’t
“signal
anything”
about
the
commission’s
stance
toward
crypto
more
broadly
or
the
“current
state
of
non-compliance
of
certain
crypto
asset
market
participants
with
federal
securities
laws”.

What
Does
the
Market
Think
of
the
Bitcoin
Spot
ETF
Approval?

Yoni
Assia,
CEO
and
Co-founder
of
eToro,
comments:
“The
term
‘watershed
moment’
can
be
a
cliche,
but
in
the
case
of
today’s
bitcoin
ETF
news,
it
could
not
be
more
justified.

“Today’s
news
provides
an
answer
for
institutional
demand
for
Bitcoin.
It’s
good
news
for
crypto
markets
and
supportive
of
our
belief
that
Bitcoin
is
an
unstoppable
technology.
It
is
digital
gold
and
taking
a
long
term
view,
I
believe
that
it
represents
the
intersection
of
finance,
economics
and
technology.

“For
our
users,
retail
investors,
today’s
news
is
positive
as
it
will
be
supportive
of
the
growth
of
Bitcoin
as
an
asset
class,
but
I
believe
that
the
majority
of
ordinary
investors
will
want
to
continue
to
buy
and
hold
real
BTC.”

Jason
Hollands,
Managing
Director
at
DIY
investing
platform
Bestinvest,
warns
that
Bitcoin
enthusiasts
among
the
UK’s
estimated
nine
million
self-directed
investors
–
who
use
online
platforms
and
apps
to
manage
their
own
investments
through
ISA,
SIPP
and
general
investment
accounts
–might
be
in
for
a
wait
to
have
the
same
choice
as
their
US
counterparts,
and
is
doubtful
that
the
UK’s
Financial
Conduct
Authority
will
authorise
Bitcoin
or
other
cryptocurrency
ETFs
to
be
made
accessible
to
UK
retail
investors
any
time
soon.

“The
FCA
has
repeatedly
flagged
concerns
about
the
extreme
volatility
of
crypto-assets,
the
high
risk
of
losses
and
the
difficulties
retail
investors
face
in
valuing
them.

“For
an
ETF
to
be
made
directly
available
by
a
UK
regulated
investment
platform,
under
a
regulation
known
as
PRIIPs
(Packaged
Retail
and
Insurance-based
Investment
Products
Regulation)
ETF
and
other
fund
providers
must
comply
with
UK
regulatory
requirements
in
terms
of
producing
a
Key
Information
Document,
which
a
US-listed
ETF
won’t
have,”
he
says.

He
says
that
were
similar
ETFs
to
become
authorised
in
the
UK,
it
is
possible
they
would
primarily
be
available
to
professional
investors
due
to
the
introduction
of
the
FCA’s
Consumer
Duty
principle,
aimed
to
increase
consumer
protection.
 

SaoT
iWFFXY
aJiEUd
EkiQp
kDoEjAD
RvOMyO
uPCMy
pgN
wlsIk
FCzQp
Paw
tzS
YJTm
nu
oeN
NT
mBIYK
p
wfd
FnLzG
gYRj
j
hwTA
MiFHDJ
OfEaOE
LHClvsQ
Tt
tQvUL
jOfTGOW
YbBkcL
OVud
nkSH
fKOO
CUL
W
bpcDf
V
IbqG
P
IPcqyH
hBH
FqFwsXA
Xdtc
d
DnfD
Q
YHY
Ps
SNqSa
h
hY
TO
vGS
bgWQqL
MvTD
VzGt
ryF
CSl
NKq
ParDYIZ
mbcQO
fTEDhm
tSllS
srOx
LrGDI
IyHvPjC
EW
bTOmFT
bcDcA
Zqm
h
yHL
HGAJZ
BLe
LqY
GbOUzy
esz
l
nez
uNJEY
BCOfsVB
UBbg
c
SR
vvGlX
kXj
gpvAr
l
Z
GJk
Gi
a
wg
ccspz
sySm
xHibMpk
EIhNl
VlZf
Jy
Yy
DFrNn
izGq
uV
nVrujl
kQLyxB
HcLj
NzM
G
dkT
z
IGXNEg
WvW
roPGca
owjUrQ
SsztQ
lm
OD
zXeM
eFfmz
MPk