Hester Peirce, the SEC Commissioner is popularly addressed as Crypto mom because of her long support of the crypto space. She has very recently lashed out at the top US Securities authority for being unsuccessful at showing a green flag to spot Bitcoin ETFs.
She highlighted that the organization should have provided guidelines and regulatory clarity for exchanges and funds that focus on rolling out such a product.
This was signified through her latest speech published on the website of SEC. She has urged the Commission to stop denying the spot crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs). And further argued that in the past thirteen years, the crowned crypto asset has grown into a mature and liquid asset that attracts investors from a large array of backgrounds.
The product’s adoption rate among the institutions has constantly grown and spot-based ETPs have been allowed for in Canada in some other countries and the Commission should also consider it.
She also cited that until this year, all approved futures-based ETPs fell under the 1940 Act. Although in April, the Commission approved the very first non-1940 Act ETP holding bitcoin futures for trading and listing on an exchange.
Peirce thinks that the SEC has shown double standards because it has shown green light to a bitcoin futures-based ETF last year while still impeding the listing of a spot-based product in the country.
She explained that the futures and spot ETPs are fundamentally two similar products and that if one can be approved, then the other one can also be approved. This was on SEC’s concerns regarding fraud, market manipulation, and the underlying bitcoin market.
She then showed her criticisms towards the watchdog for attempting to cobble up a regulatory framework via enforcement action, highlighting the latest $100m BlockFi settlement with the SEC and 32 states as an instance of enforcement actions cutting ahead of the process of regulations.
Whereas, one of the significant Bitcoin funds, Grayscale has been in the limelight lately for its interest in rolling out a Bitcoin ETF and its disagreement with SEC.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/06/19/crypto-mom-condemns-sec-for-delaying-the-spot-bitcoin-etfs-approval/