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"When asked whether the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would take any action soon on a spot Bitcoin ETF, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that he would not ""prejudge"" the future of a spot Bitcoin ETF. On Wednesday, during a conference hosted by the Healthy Markets Association, Gensler reiterated the position that Bitcoin is a commodity, while expressing ongoing concerns about the overall state of the cryptocurrency industry.
Gensler remarked, ""It's a bit of common sense versus the exaggeration in this field. It's an area fraught with bad actors, fraud, manipulation, and money laundering.""
Several asset management companies, including BlackRock and Fidelity, have been patiently waiting for SEC approval for the first spot Bitcoin ETF. In recent months, these companies have submitted multiple applications, but so far, they have faced delays.
When asked about the remarks of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam regarding the necessity of additional authority for regulatory oversight of cryptocurrency derivatives, Gensler expressed support for granting the CFTC additional powers, especially around Bitcoin.
Gensler had previously described the agency's review process as a ""time-tested process."" He stated in a Bloomberg TV interview last month, ""When asset management companies seek to list, the products that these exchanges trade need to register with the SEC and go through an application similar to an initial public offering.""
He continued, ""So, in essence, it's our Division of Corporation Finance that provides feedback, and our Trading and Markets Division, of course, will look at these filings. It's a time-tested process that goes back decades. The SEC staff is known as the disclosure review group, but within that group, they respond and provide feedback to potential issuers.""
On Tuesday, the SEC engaged in new discussions with representatives from JPMorgan and BlackRock, exploring possible strategies to address ""balance sheet impact and risks,"" as stated in a memo released by the regulatory body. The SEC also held meetings last week with Grayscale and BlackRock, according to the memo.
Former CFTC Chairman Gensler had previously asserted that many cryptocurrencies should be classified as securities. During the conference, he also referred to a previous speech in which he compared the lack of compliance in the cryptocurrency industry to the period before the implementation of federal securities laws in the 1920s." |
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Post time 7-12-2023 21:35:31