SEC’s Clayton Still Concerned About Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs: “Work to Be Done”
Bitcoin ETF Hopes Might Just Have Been Quashed… Again
Hype has begun to build about Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) yet again as the ruling dates on these investment vehicles have neared once again.
Yet, a Commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which presides over this facet of the cryptocurrency investment market, recently came out to seemingly quash the hopes of the investors expecting for a publicly-available fund tracking the Bitcoin price to make it to market.
Speaking to CNBC’s “The Exchange” segment on Monday, Jay Clayton, one of the more outspoken critics of cryptocurrencies in the SEC, claimed that while Bitcoin ETFs are closer to coming to market, “there is still work left to be done”.
Clayton went on to reiterate his common critiques of the cryptocurrency market, touching on the fact that because Bitcoin “trade on largely unregulated markets”, how can the SEC be sure that BTC’s value isn’t manipulated. He then added that for the SEC to even consider a product, proper custody of assets needs to be had.
Clayton didn’t comment on the services currently on the market — even the reputable Wall Street custodians like Fidelity Investments or Bakkt (backed largely by the Intercontinental Exchange).
The commissioner’s comments come a few weeks ahead of expected verdicts on three leading Bitcoin ETF applications.
VanEck Can’t Wait
While the verdicts are on the horizon, one of the hopefuls, VanEck Partners, has decided to launch a workaround product in the interim.
As reported by Ethereum World News previously, the ETF giant recently used a certain rule of a historical securities act to issue shares in the VanEck SolidX Bitcoin Trust to qualified institutional investors. VanEck’s head of ETF product, Ed Lopez, is hopeful that institutional demand for Bitcoin will materialize in demand for this new “clear” product.
Analyst Alex Kruger wrote in a tweet that the launch of this product is bullish, with the product giving Bitcoin a higher probability of breakout out of the current range to the topside.
A Silver Lining
Even if a Bitcoin ETF doesn’t get approved by the SEC this time around, there is a silver lining:
This silver lining, according to Bitcoin proponent Eric Savics, is that the fact that the SEC is now discussing cryptocurrencies is a sign that Bitcoin has gone “exponential” as a technology, and is now not an asset only used by those in the margins and on the fringe.
