The former head of the SEC supported the launch of a spot bitcoin ETF in the United States
Date: 2023-07-11 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BLOCKCHAIN, IN WORLD
Former head of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton has changed his mind about the spot bitcoin ETF. The former head of the regulator believes that the tool should be approved. Jay Clayton shared this opinion during an interview for CNBC
According to him, it will be difficult for regulators to reject a spot bitcoin ETF if market participants who submit applications to the SEC to launch such a tool can demonstrate its effectiveness.
Recall that Jay Clayton was the head of the SEC from May 2017 to December 2020. During this period, many companies tried to launch a spot bitcoin ETF. The regulator consistently rejected all applications, as it considered the instrument to be insufficiently safe.
Jay Clayton's successor was Gary Gensler. Under his management, the SEC approved a bitcoin futures ETF. In June 2023, the spot version of the instrument was once again in the spotlight. It was remembered after the investment giant BlackRock applied for a spot bitcoin trust. Other organizations followed. Bitwise and Invesco also submitted their applications for the launch of a spot bitcoin ETF.
The SEC reacted to the new flood of applications, calling them "inadequate." Market participants, in turn, rushed to make adjustments to the documents in order to prove to the regulator the effectiveness and safety of the instrument. For example, Nasdaq has added Coinbase, one of the largest crypto exchanges, to the application to launch the BlackRock spot bitcoin ETF. The digital asset-focused trading platform, which was the first crypto company to achieve public status in the United States, will control the instrument.
