SoftwareUS SEC begrudgingly approves Bitcoin trades but warns investors it’s a ‘speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
SoftwareUS SEC begrudgingly approves Bitcoin trades but warns investors it’s a ‘speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing’When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: ParallelVision - Pixabay)
The SEC’s approval should therefore be seen as something of a begrudging one, andthe statement issued alongside itdoes nothing to dispel that interpretation. “Though we’re merit neutral, I’d note that the underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler, “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.
“While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”
ETPs tend to be marketed as high-risk investments with the potential for big rewards, so this won’t necessarily surprise anyone. The spot Bitcoin ETPs will be trading in Bitcoin throughout its myriad price fluctuations, but investors are betting on the performance of the overall package (ETPs themselves are traded on the stock exchange) which will include multiple other adjacent assets.
Perhaps most importantly for the average investor, none of this involves buying Bitcoin directly: So no dealing with the myriad of questionable crypto exchanges and no need for a crypto wallet.
The news was expected to cause a jump in Bitcoin value, though this happened pre-announcement thanks to the SEC mistakenly announcing the news early on X. Before the official announcement on January 10, the SEC’s X account published a post announcing the news just after 4pm ET on January 9. Within 15 minutes it had been deleted and chairGary Gensler issued a retractionclaiming the account had been “compromised” and the tweet was “unauthorised” (hmm). Either way the cat was out of the bag.
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It is fair to say, however, that we’ve travelled a long way from the ideals of Satoshi Nakamoto, the nom de plume of Bitcoin’s unknown creator. Bitcoin was announced to the world in 2008 alongside a white paper setting out the idea of a decentralised financial system where people dealt with each other directly without the need for middlemen and financial institutions. Companies like Blackrock frenziedly trading Bitcoin bundles on the US stock exchange ain’t exactly that.
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