Jay Clayton – the previous Chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – believes that the regulatory body will inevitably approve the initiation of a spot Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded fund). The organization recently opted to postpone the submissions from BlackRock and various other financial titans who expressed intentions to launch such a product.
Clayton is optimistic that “we could observe advancements in the upcoming 45 days” (the time frame after which the authority is anticipated to reveal its decision once more).
Spot Bitcoin ETF – ‘Unavoidable’
The most recent individual to share his thoughts on the popular spot Bitcoin ETF subject is Jay Clayton (an American lawyer who held the position of SEC Chairman from 2017 to 2020). He contends that the “distinction between a futures product and a cash product can’t persist indefinitely,” indicating that the Commission will eventually take the “unavoidable” step to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF.
He did not provide a clear response to whether the Commission would have already endorsed such a product had he been in charge. Nevertheless, he believes the securities regulator may come closer to saying “yes” in October rather than fabricating reasons to delay or dismiss the failures.
“The SEC has been allotted time from the DC Circuit to reevaluate and possibly generate justifications. I don’t perceive those; there might be some, but I don’t observe them.”
In spite of numerous efforts from domestic firms, the US remains one of the nations where a spot Bitcoin ETF has yet to materialize. Many advocates for cryptocurrency believe the SEC might adjust its adversarial position this time since several of the entities that applied to introduce that type of product are financial giants like BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck, and others.
Experts, including Bloomberg Intelligence, suggest that approval could have been granted a few days ago. However, the SEC (which also had the choice to reject or delay the applications) chose to grant itself an additional 45 days to scrutinize the advantages and disadvantages of the proposals.
Elevated Demand for Bitcoin
Clayton, who previously declared that the SEC will find it “difficult to resist” the spot Bitcoin ETF propositions, emphasized the strong demand for BTC demonstrated by retail and institutional investors. He also asserted that “it is evident that Bitcoin is not classified as a security:”
“Bitcoin is something that retail investors desire access to, institutional investors seek access to, and importantly, some of our most reliable providers wish to offer this product to the retail market.”
The current leadership of the SEC concurs on not categorizing Bitcoin ETF among securities. Chair Gary Gensler has stated that the asset is the only cryptocurrency he could categorize as a commodity (or in the same category as precious metals, oil, and natural gas).
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