The Crypto Roundup: 11 January 2024 | CryptoCompare.com

The Crypto Roundup: 11 January 2024 | CryptoCompare.com

The Crypto Roundup: 11 January 2024 | CryptoCompare.com PlatoBlockchain Data Intelligence. Vertical Search. Ai.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved 11 spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, in a move that its Chair Gary Gensler called the “most sustainable path forward.”

These exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will now trade on exchanges like stocks and have special tax treatment in the United States, and are issued by various major financial powerhouses including Fidelity and Invesco, as well as focused industry players like Grayscale and Ark Invest.

Today, BlackRock will ring the opening bell at Nasdaq to promote its spot Bitcoin ETF, the iShares Bitcoin Trust. The approval of spot bitcoin ETFs are seen as a game-changer for Bitcoin as US investors, both institutional and retail, will have the opportunity to access the cryptocurrency directly through a regulated product.

A spot Bitcoin ETF allows these investors to avoid having to manage their own private keys. The decision to approve them in the US marks a U-turn for the SEC, which resisted approving spot Bitcoin ETFs for a decade as it cited risks of fraud and manipulation in the crypto market.

Last year, Grayscale won a legal battle against the regulator over an earlier application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, as a federal court decided that the SEC’s decision was “arbitrary and capricious,” forcing it to reconsider.

In a statement, Gensler said that despite the approval, the SEC “did not approve or endorse Bitcoin,” and added investors “should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”

Time Stamp:

More from CryptoCompare