This policy changed after the SEC lost an important lawsuit last August. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the commission failed to adequately explain why it rejected Grayscale’s proposed Bitcoin ETF.
Gensler was forced to give in, but not on all fronts.
First of all, he is engaged in some ongoing legal battles with the crypto community. Most of the disputes are about his claims Most crypto assets are securities that fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC.
Gensler said in a statement that he has no intention of changing his approach to the issue.
“Additionally, this approval does not imply anything about the Commission’s opinion regarding the status of other crypto assets under federal securities laws or the status of non-compliance with federal securities laws by particular crypto market participants. .Until now, without prejudice to any particular crypto asset, the vast majority of crypto assets were investment contracts and therefore subject to federal securities laws.”
Will the arrival of Bitcoin ETFs encourage Wall Street (news agencies and financial advisors) to be more proactive in recommending cryptocurrencies to their clients and allowing them to trade on their platforms?
Perhaps, but Gensler made it clear that broker-dealers must follow existing rules.
“Furthermore, existing rules and standards of conduct apply to the purchase and sale of approved goods. [exchange traded products]. These include, for example, best interest regulations for broker-dealers when recommending ETPs to retail investors, and fiduciary duties for investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. ”
Best interests of regulation Broker-dealers are required to act in the best interests of their individual customers when making investment recommendations. These recommendations must be ‘right’ for the client.
This is a potential investment minefield for investment advisors, and will likely result in many advisors not recommending Bitcoin for some time.
In the end, Gensler couldn’t help but say goodbye to Bitcoin in general.
“While we are merit-neutral, the underlying assets of metal ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, whereas Bitcoin is primarily a speculative and volatile asset, and is subject to ransomware, money laundering, and Please note that it is also used for illegal activities such as sanctions, “evasion and terrorist financing.” Today, we authorized the listing and trading of certain Spot Bitcoin ETP shares, but we do not approve or endorse Bitcoin. did not do it.”