Bitcoin (BTC) is skyrocketing after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved a slew of bids to create BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the spot market.
The long-awaited move from the regulator – where it approved the applications of several major companies such as BlackRock (IBIT), Fidelity (FBTC), Invesco (BTCO), ARK Invest (ARKB), Franklin Templeton (EZBC) and VanEck (HODL) – caused the crypto king to temporarily skyrocket to a 21-month high of $49,054.
The top crypto asset by market cap has since recovered and is trading at $46,300 at the time of writing, up 1.8% over the past 24 hours.
In a recent statement on the matter, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said that while the regulatory body has approved Bitcoin ETFs in the spot market, this should not be taken as a signal that the SEC is ready to greenlight similar products for other digital assets .
“Importantly, today’s Commission action targets ETPs that own one non-security product: bitcoin. It should in no way be a sign of the Commission’s willingness to adopt cryptocurrency listing standards.
Also, the approval is silent on the Commission’s views on the status of other crypto assets under the federal securities laws, or on the current state of non-compliance of certain crypto asset market participants with the federal securities laws.
As I have said in the past, and without prejudging any one crypto asset, the vast majority of crypto assets are investment contracts and therefore subject to the federal securities laws.”
The SEC’s decision comes months after it lost a lawsuit against crypto asset manager Grayscale. In that case, a judge ruled that since the SEC had previously approved BTC ETFs for futures, it must reconsider Grayscale’s application to create a BTC ETF in the spot market to remain consistent and avoid arbitrariness.
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