US stock regulator allows the creation of exchange-traded funds linked to bitcoin

The United States stock exchange regulator (SEC) approved for the first time the creation of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) linked to the bitcoina decision that cryptocurrency investors were eagerly awaiting.

The SEC’s decision, which was published this Wednesday afternoon after an internal vote, gives the green light to the listing of eleven ETFs of this type that had requested it and opens the door to greater institutional acceptance of bitcoin in the financial markets. from USA

Bitcoin has appreciated recently on expectations of this news, but suffered volatility on Tuesday when the SEC’s account on 4,000 dollars in the value of bitcoin.

The SEC today approved by the “expedited” route the modification of the existing rules for the creation of a financial product known as a “spot ETF”, linked to “real” or “spot” bitcoin, which allows investors to gain direct exposure to this cryptocurrency.

Among the eleven applicants, which are renowned asset managers, are BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, ARK Investment, or Grayscale, and their spot bitcoin ETFs could begin trading on the markets as soon as Thursday.

Until now, investors who wanted to buy and sell cryptocurrencies had to go to specific exchange platforms or gain indirect exposure through ETFs linked to bitcoin futures contracts.which were approved by the regulator in 2021.

The SEC has been critical for years of bitcoin and other digital currencies, a position that its current president, Gary Gensler, reiterated in a statement today, although he acknowledged that the circumstances are no longer the same.

Gensler said that since 2018, the entity has rejected around twenty spot bitcoin ETF applications, but the circumstances “have changed” after one of the interested parties, Grayscale, denounced its refusal in court, which ruled in favor. .

The District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington noted in its August 2023 decision that the SEC’s lack of “adequate” explanations for its refusal to allow Grayscale to create a bitcoin ETF was “unlawful.”

“Based on these circumstances and others (…), I believe that from now on the most sustainable path is to approve the listing and exchange” of spot Bitcoin ETFs, says Gensler, who assures that the decision does not represent a sign of “ willingness to approve listing standards” for bitcoin.

After the news broke, bitcoin skyrocketed to around $46,500.