- SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce has applauded efforts by Grayscale and the U.S. District Court of Appeals in the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF.
- After a decade since the first filing, the SEC has approved the first Bitcoin spot ETF but the chair has made it clear that this is not an endorsement of the digital asset.
SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce has credited Grayscale and ‘DC Circuit-Ex-Machina’ for the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. After nearly a decade since the first filing hit the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) desk, the agency has succumbed to pressure and approved the first spot Bitcoin ETF.
On Thursday, the regulatory agency approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETF applications ushering in a new era in the industry. The SEC chair confirmed these approvals which was critical following the fiasco experienced a couple hours before the approval. After initially cautioning crypto investors earlier this week, the SEC chain Gary Gensler has warned that the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF is not an endorsement of the digital asset.
While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin.
Following these positive developments, SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce who is known in the crypto community as the “Crypto Mom” for her pro-crypto stance in the agency has applauded Grayscale and ‘DC Circuit-Ex-Machina’.
The commissioner was referring to the U.S. Court mandating the SEC to reevaluate Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF application last year. The courts cited similarities with approved Bitcoin futures ETFs and concluded with a panel of judges that the SEC’s rejection was “arbitrary and capricious.” By the end of the year, the SEC and Grayscale were engaging in
discussions about an ETF, a first sign that approval was imminent.
In her remarks, Pierce revealed that the SEC had failed in its job, delaying the approval of an ETF for a decade, only succumbing to pressure after the courts called their ‘bluff.’
We squandered a decade of opportunities to do our job. If we had applied the standard we use for other commodity-based ETPs, we could have approved these products years ago, but we refused to do so until a court called our bluff.
According to reports, the latest decision from the SEC was put to a vote with Pierce among the three who voted to approve. Surprisingly, of the other two, the chair Gary Gensler was also in support, with the remaining two voting against.
https://twitter.com/EleanorTerrett/status/1745223606538305892?
Similar sentiments have been shared by Coinbase’s CEO and Chief Legal Officer. CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the American investment company “deserves a huge amount of credit for today, pushing this through the courts.”
https://twitter.com/iampaulgrewal/status/1745209782833910136
In the wake of the approvals, BTC has recorded a marginal increase of less than 1%. This suggests that either the approval was already priced in or investors are taking a cautious approach. Some analysts have warned that trading could be low in the first couple of days despite very high anticipation in the market. Investors are cautious of this and are taking a cautiously optimistic position.
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