During a discussion on American television show CNBC’s Squawk Box, Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Invest, said applauded the efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding the numerous spot Bitcoin ETF applications filed with its office.
Bitcoin ETF: A long road
It is well known that US regulators have never approved a spot Bitcoin ETF application. Grayscale was once a victim of this sentiment when the SEC rejected its application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) ETF into a physically collateralized product. Just recently there was a federal judge ordered The regulator should re-examine Grayscale’s application.
According to the judge, the SEC failed to recognize it the “apparent financial and mathematical relationship between the spot and futures markets.”
The SEC has consistently raised concerns about market manipulation, fraud and unsecured investor exposure as reasons for rejecting previous applications. Surprisingly, Wood mentioned that this was not the case this time as the SEC was more receptive to their requests.
Instead of outright rejecting the spot BTC ETF submissions from companies like BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco and Valkyrie, she confirmed that the regulator took the time to ask applicants questions focused on protecting investors . The SEC even went so far as to be encouraging The potential Bitcoin ETF candidates will be required to make key changes in their application, such as the surveillance sharing agreement.
SEC more open now
The CEO of ARK Invest explained that she was quite impressed by the questions asked, many of which were very technical. In their opinion, the “open-mindedness” shown by the SEC is a positive signal that this may be time to approve a Bitcoin ETF locally.
Her stance underscores the many predictions and bullish statements that have been making the rounds in the broader crypto ecosystem. Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart believe that the probability that the regulator will give the green light to the twelve applications on its desk is 90%.
Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, is also very confident about where BTC ETF applications will receive much-needed approvals this year.
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