Former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Jay Clayton just called for the approval of a spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) in an appearance on CNBC TV.
Initially, he conceded that, back when he was chair of the SEC, he had been skeptical of the Bitcoin trading markets.
However, he noted that the landscape for the Bitcoin market has “definitely” changed, noting large retail participation in the market around the globe, and the fact that “people want access to it”.
“Now we have very credible financial institutions with fiduciary duties to their customers who are saying “we want to deliver this product (a spot Bitcoin ETF)” and can do so consistent with those (fiduciary) obligations”, Clayton continued.
Moreover, Clayton pointed to the fact that there are already Bitcoin futures ETFs trading in the US, but they are an inefficient product.
“My assessment, looking at all of that, is let’s get some public comment and then let’s move on and have a spot Bitcoin ETF,” he concluded.
His remarks come a few days after the SEC postponed a decision on Ark Invest’s spot Bitcoin ETF application, instead calling for a period of public comment.
That postponement wasn’t a surprise.
Many major crypto industry players, such as Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood herself, expect the SEC to approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously rather than one by one.
And the SEC appears to be wanting to buy time after a wave of spot Bitcoin ETF applications came in from major financial institutions like BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity in June.
The wave of new spot Bitcoin ETF applications from, as Clayton puts it, credible financial institutions back in June triggered a rapid rally from multi-month lows in the $25,000s to fresh yearly
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