United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair, Gary Gensler, has made it clear that despite the recent approval of 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), his agency does not endorse Bitcoin. This statement was made on January 10, shortly after the historic approvals.
Gensler emphasized the SEC’s skeptical view of the cryptocurrency, highlighting Bitcoin’s “speculative” nature and contrasting it with the utility of precious metals such as gold, silver, and platinum. He asserted that Bitcoin is still frequently used to settle transactions in illicit activities, despite mounting evidence to the contrary.
“Though we’re merit neutral, I’d note that the underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, while in contrast bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing,” Gensler stated. He further cautioned investors about the numerous risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.
On the same day, the securities regulator approved the 19b-4 applications from ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, and Franklin Templeton. This is a developing story, and more information will be provided as it becomes available.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Gary Gensler |
| Companies | Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, BlackRock, Hashdex, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, Bitwise, Fidelity, Valkyrie, United States Securities and Exchange Commission, Grayscale, WisdomTree |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, BlackRock, Hashdex, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, Bitwise, Fidelity, Valkyrie, Grayscale, WisdomTree |
