Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler said Thursday that the agency’s “new look” at spot Bitcoin ETF applications is taking into account recent court rulings.
The SEC has rejected previous applications for a spot Bitcoin fund for years, but a panel of judges who ordered the regulator to reconsider Grayscale Investments’ failed bid may be starting to tip the balance. The agency is currently considering more than a dozen applications from leading asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity.
“We have denied many of these applications in the past, but the District of Columbia courts have weighed in on them,” Gensler told CNBC on Thursday. “So we are taking a fresh look at this issue based on the court ruling.”
Three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit rule In August, the SEC announced that Grayscale would have to reexamine its bid for a spot Bitcoin ETF after the asset manager sued Grayscale after rejecting a plan to convert its flagship GBTC fund. The court specifically addressed the SEC’s differential treatment of spot Bitcoin ETFs and similar funds based on futures contracts approved by the regulator.
In September, Gensler told lawmakers: In review The same goes for the court’s ruling “Multiple reports of Bitcoin exchange traded products.”
Cryptocurrencies are still rife with fraud, Gensler says.
Gensler reiterated his view that the cryptocurrency industry often does not comply with existing securities laws.
“There are too many scams and bad actors in the cryptocurrency space,” Gensler told CNBC. “There is often a lack of compliance with securities laws, as well as other laws related to anti-money laundering and protecting the public from bad actors.”
AML has gained industry attention due to the following needs: meeting And in the Treasury. last month, Ministry of Finance sent suggestion It called on lawmakers to provide more powers and sanctions tools to go after wrongdoers in the cryptocurrency industry.
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About the author
Sarah is a reporter for The Block covering policy, regulation and legal events. Sarah was previously a reporter writing about securities regulation at CQ Legal, where she first began her reporting on cryptocurrencies. She Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other financial publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Print and Digital Journalism. Sarah lives in Washington, DC and she is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.