SEC under congressional scrutiny as BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF application moves forward
US House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry will ‘watch closely’ how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responds to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF filing on June 16. said. Tweet.
McHenry said the decision now rests with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, but that financial regulators “shouldn’t decide winners and losers based on inconsistent factors.”
The lawmaker’s comments suggest that if the SEC approves BlackRock’s application, it will need to explain why it has rejected all previous Bitcoin ETF spot applications from other cryptocurrency companies.
Given BlackRock’s position and influence as one of the world’s largest investment firms, several cryptocurrency community members said: believe The SEC will be under tremendous pressure to approve the petition.
BlackRock ETF Application
On June 15th, BlackRock applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF. Coinbase Custody will act as the custodian of the digital assets, while Bank of New York Mellon will hold the ETF’s fiat currency.
according to it, application, The SEC has historically approved unregulated physical exchange-traded products in the commodity and currency markets by relying on the underlying futures market. Therefore, “a sizable regulated market test would not require the spot bitcoin market to be regulated for the Commission to approve this proposal.”
The SEC Has A History Of Rejecting Bitcoin Spot ETFs
The commission rejected more than 10 spot Bitcoin ETF applications from various companies including Ark Invest, 21 Shares, WisdomTree, Fidelity, SkyBridge, Valkyrie Investments and VanEck.
Additionally, regulators have foiled efforts by Grayscale Investments to convert Bitcoin Trust into a spot ETF. The cryptocurrency investment firm is currently challenging the SEC’s decision in court.
In these cases, the European Commission has consistently held that the applications of these companies did not comply with specific provisions of securities laws, aimed at preventing fraud and market manipulation, and protecting investors and the public interest. I have argued that it is nothing.
However, the SEC has approved various Bitcoin futures ETFs from October 2021 onwards, including the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy (BITO) and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF).
As BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF filing progresses, the congressional oversight post-SEC first appeared on CryptoSlate.
