U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Reconsiders Bitcoin Spot ETF Applications
New review of applications
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler answered some questions regarding applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) during an interview with CNBC on Thursday.
“Right now, I think we have between eight and a dozen applications that are going through the process,” Gensler said, emphasizing that as SEC chairman he would not judge any particular application at the advance. According to public records, 13 spot Bitcoin ETF applications are currently pending with the SEC.
“As you may know, we have denied a number of these requests in the past, but the courts here in the District of Columbia have ruled,” the SEC chairman noted, adding that “we are not unable to determine whether these requests are justified or not”:
“That is why we are re-examining the matter in light of these court decisions.”
Gensler's comments resulted from litigation over the SEC's denial of Grayscale Investments' application to transform its bitcoin trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF. The court then ordered further review by the SEC of the crypto-asset manager's application.
Crypto Market Overview
Regarding the crypto market, Chairman Gensler said: “I would say this about the crypto market… There are a lot of violations. Violations of the securities laws, which are supposed to give you the disclosure so that you can make the decision to invest, but also to protect yourself from fraud and manipulation And there have been far too many frauds and bad actors in the crypto space. securities laws, but also other laws regarding money laundering and protecting the public from bad actors out there.” He further emphasized
“This is an area where you still don't have the basic information on a lot of these projects. And the intermediaries of the so-called crypto exchanges are mixing and doing things that we don't otherwise allow in our financial system “.
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