SEC Approves Bitcoin ETF...to Trade Starting 11. January, Debut on Wall Street.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the launch of the first spot bitcoin ETF. On Tuesday (local time), the SEC released an official statement on behalf of Chairman Gary Gensler, allowing 11 spot ETFs to begin trading on November 11. The decision is a milestone for the approximately $1.7 trillion cryptocurrency market. It is expected to expand investment access to bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. The SEC said it made the decision to approve the spot ETFs based on its three primary missions: protecting investors, maintaining fair markets, and facilitating capital formation. In total, the SEC approved 11 funds to begin trading on Thursday.
The approval marks a rare instance of the SEC accommodating a market demand that it has denied for more than a decade. Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss first proposed a bitcoin ETF in 2013. Grayscale even filed a lawsuit against the SEC. The tide turned when BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, filed last June. After the SEC lost the case against Grayscale, the crypto market rallied sharply as BlackRock and other asset managers filed for spot ETFs. Bitcoin has risen less than 1% since the SEC's decision, hovering around $46,000.
Grayscale will also convert its existing Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF, allowing it to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. With Wall Street's biggest asset managers - BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity and others - jumping into the spot ETF market, it will be interesting to see how much money flows into the ETFs that start trading tomorrow.
