Jay Claton, the former chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has expressed his belief that the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is inevitable. In an interview with CNBC, Clayton stated that the SEC has no further decisions to make as it is satisfied with the disclosures from ETF applicants.
Clayton explained that the Bitcoin trading market has improved significantly compared to five years ago when market participants were involved in risky activities such as wash sales and laddering. These activities were not made available to the public due to their associated risks. However, the current disclosures from applicants provide investors with necessary information about the underlying Bitcoin market, the technology required for the new product, and its custody, creation, and redemption.
The former SEC chair praised the agency for its current position, stating that the anticipated Bitcoin ETF approval is a significant development for the financial sector. He added, “This is a big step, not just for Bitcoin but for finance generally. If you can digitize, tokenize underlying assets and trade that way, that’s a potential significant change across finance, not just in the crypto space.”
Clayton’s comments come as multiple spot Bitcoin ETF applicants, including Valkyrie, WisdomTree, BlackRock, VanEck, Invesco/Galaxy, Grayscale, and ARK Invest/21Shares, have filed finalized updates for their S-1 forms with the SEC. These filings include various fees resulting from competition among the potential ETF issuers. Bitwise is offering the lowest fee – 0.24% after the initial six months and the first $1 billion in assets – followed by ARK Invest/21Shares with 0.25% under the same conditions. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, offered 0.20% for the first 12 months or until the first $5 billion in assets and then an increase to 0.30% as the ongoing fee. Franklin Templeton offers a fee of 0.29%, Fidelity’s sits at 0.39%, and VanEck listed 0.25%.
The crypto community is eagerly awaiting the SEC’s announcement, as the deadline for the agency’s decision is January 10.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | positive |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Jay Claton |
| Companies | Valkyrie, Grayscale, CNBC, Bitwise, BlackRock, Invesco/Galaxy, ARK Invest/21Shares, WisdomTree, VanEck, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Franklin Templeton, Binance Futures, Fidelity |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
