SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has shared why the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) determined to approve a bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) to commerce on the NYSE. Meanwhile, the Commission has not authorized a spot bitcoin ETF.
Why SEC Approves Bitcoin Futures ETF
As the primary futures-based bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) within the U.S. debuted on the NYSE, the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) defined why the regulator greenlighted a bitcoin futures ETF however not a spot bitcoin ETF.
In an interview with CNBC Tuesday, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated that his company “should be technology neutral, but not policy neutral.” He elaborated:
What we’re making an attempt to do is guarantee to one of the best we are able to inside our authorities to convey initiatives into the investor safety perimeter.
“Bitcoin futures have been overseen by our sibling agency, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission [CFTC], which I was once honored and proud to serve there and that’s been four years,” the SEC chief continued.
He added that one of many functions “went effective with regard to those products over at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange [CME] that our sibling agency oversees.”
Responding to a query about why the SEC has authorized a bitcoin futures ETF however not a spot bitcoin ETF, Gensler famous that he won’t touch upon any particular utility or mission. However, the SEC chief clarified:
What you might have right here is a product that’s been overseen for 4 years by a U.S. federal regulator, the CFTC, and that’s being wrapped within one thing that’s inside our jurisdiction referred to as the Investment Company Act of 1940. So, now we have some capacity to convey it within investor safety.
While emphasizing that bitcoin is “still a highly speculative asset class and listeners should understand that underneath this, it still has that same aspect of volatility and speculation,” the SEC chairman concluded: “Our sister agency is overseeing this for four years and then it brings it inside an 80-year-old law here at the SEC.”
The Proshares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, ticker “BITO,” began trading Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). “The fund seeks to provide capital appreciation primarily through managed exposure to bitcoin futures contracts,” its web site particulars, including that it “does not invest directly in bitcoin.”
What do you consider the SEC approving the primary bitcoin-based ETF and Gensler’s feedback? Let us know within the feedback part beneath.
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