Amid heightened anticipation and excitement surrounding the possibility that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could approve the first spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF), Commissioner Hester Peirce has said there was no reason for the regulator to stand in the way of this.
Indeed, Peirce shared her views regarding the SEC’s process of deciding on the spot Bitcoin ETF applications as she was discussing the agency’s regulation of cryptocurrency assets and other related matters in an interview with Bloomberg’s Kailey Leinz and Sonali Basak streamed on November 21.
A ‘nudge’ from the judge
Asked by Leinz to shed some light on the ongoing conversations between the issuers that have filed some of these spot Bitcoin ETF applications and individuals at the securities watchdog, Peirce said that she had for many years been transparent about her opinions regarding this matter and that she believes:
“There is no reason for us to stand in the way of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product. (…) We’ve had a number come before us where I said I don’t see the reason that we’re denying these. We got a little bit of a nudge from the court, and we’ll see where things go from here.”
As the journalist noted, the ‘nudge from the court’ she was talking about refers to the case of crypto asset manager Grayscale, in which the judge found that the SEC was “arbitrary and capricious” in denying the company’s attempts to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GTBC) into an ETF.
The spot Bitcoin ETF effect
Meanwhile, the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF has created significant excitement for the potential breakthrough of crypto assets to Wall Street, as such a development would open up crypto investing to institutional and retail investors, setting a precedent for the crypto industry.
With this in mind, Bloomberg has projected that the involvement of financial giants like BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), Fidelity, and Invesco (NYSE: IVZ) would contribute to the spot Bitcoin ETF market growing into a $100-billion powerhouse, as Finbold reported on November 20.
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