SEC Bitcoin Landmark Decision: Just over a year after the meltdown of the cryptocurrency markets, the Securities and Exchange Commission decided on Wednesday to let Wall Street businesses to provide simpler methods for buying and selling bitcoin on financial markets. This is a significant move that might lead to the cryptocurrency becoming more widely used.
Regular people will soon be able to purchase exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, that own bitcoin from banks and investing institutions. Previously, investors had to purchase financial instruments that attempted to more indirectly approximate the price of bitcoin or go via cryptocurrency trading companies like Coinbase, which assessed transaction fees. Retail investors will now be able to purchase bitcoin ETFs in a manner similar to that of purchasing mutual funds or shares in a publicly traded corporation.
The action would lessen the negative connotation that has surrounded bitcoin for many years, particularly in the wake of well-publicized cryptocurrency frauds and company collapses, and increase its inclusion in the investing and retirement portfolios of average people.
SEC Bitcoin Landmark Decision
In a CNBC interview, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, “This is a monumental step for the crypto industry.” Armstrong and other prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space had chastised the SEC for not being more accommodating to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The SEC had been rejecting petitions identical to this for bitcoin ETFs for years. However, a federal court said last year that the regulator had not given enough justification for denying the cryptocurrency asset management Grayscale’s proposal to establish a bitcoin ETF. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a statement that the decision on Wednesday was made in reaction to that decision.
“Given these circumstances, I believe approving the listing is the most sustainable course of action,” Gensler stated.
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Makes it easier to trade
As of right now, Bitcoin is by far the most reliable and well-liked cryptocurrency. In comparison to other cryptocurrency assets, its price stayed high even after the fall at the end of 2022. Because it was the first significant cryptocurrency and has a longer history than a seemingly limitless number of lesser-known and younger cryptocurrencies, investors feel more at ease purchasing it.
Scams still abound in the sector, and criminals who want to transfer money without having it restricted by governments frequently utilise bitcoin. The day before the SEC’s announcement, its account on X, previously Twitter, was hacked, causing it to prematurely approve the bitcoin ETFs and cause a brief increase in the price of the cryptocurrency.
The sector has been negatively impacted by the 2022 cryptocurrency price fall that followed a sharp increase in prices during the epidemic and by Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, being found guilty of fraud. Millions of Americans own bitcoins as investments, though, and many view it as just another way to diversify their holdings.
Armstrong declared, “This asset class is here to stay.”
