- The SEC chairman addressed X for the second time in the past 24 hours to warn about the dangers of the crypto market
- The warning comes just as the market expects several spot Bitcoin ETFs to start trading by the end of this week
Chairman of the US Securities and Exchanges (SEC) – Gary Gensler appears to be having a meltdown on Presenting cases to X for the second time this week, Gensler declared,
“If you are considering an investment with crypto assets, proceed with caution. Crypto assets can be marketed as new opportunities, but there are serious risks involved.”
It is striking that the second warning comes less than 24 hours after the first warning. In the first warning, issued on January 8, Chairman Gensler said warned that the offering of “investments/services in crypto assets” may not comply with securities laws.
He added that investing in crypto assets can be “exceptionally risky and often volatile.” Furthermore, the chairman warned that fraudsters continued to exploit and lure investors through various schemes.
Warning comes on the eve of a likely approval of Bitcoin ETF
Interestingly, the back-to-back warning comes days before decision day for spot Bitcoin ETF applications. During a CNBC interviewCEO of VanEck – Jan van Eck stated that the approval for spot Bitcoin ETF was expected to take place by the end of Wednesday, i.e. on January 10. Additionally, the CEO expects the products to start trading on the market Thursday morning.
Notably, Van Eck expects the SEC to approve 10 ETFs filed by multiple companies, including Blackrock – the investment management giant. And there is speculation that this approval will raise billions of dollars within the first few months of listing.
Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price forecast 2024-2025
Amid a confident sentiment of approval, the top Bitcoin ETF candidates have published the fee for their product in the latest amended filings. Bitwise currently has the lowest rates, set at 0.20%. Typically, these fees are charged after the first six months of listing or until the fund has $1 billion in assets. Previously, there would be no fees associated with the spot BTC ETF.
Regardless of long-term plans, the intensity of this bitcoin ETF bidding war tells me that the issuers believe the winner’s low fees will be offset by HUGE $$ inflows. pic.twitter.com/tzEmHzPsWU
— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) January 9, 2024
Spot BTC ETF Fees | Source:
Blackrock, on the other hand, has set a 0.2% fee for the first twelve months or until the fund reaches $5 billion in assets. Post this, the cost rises to 0.3%. Most other companies also offer little to no fees for their BTC products for the first few months or until the product reaches a fixed benchmark of assets.
