U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
Chair
Gary
Gensler
conceded
that
the
regulator’s
loss
in
court
over
rejecting
Grayscale’s
application
for
a
spot
bitcoin
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
left
it
little
recourse
but
to
approve
about
a
dozen
such
proposals
Wednesday.
Gensler
called
the
approvals
“the
most
sustainable
path
forward”
in
a
statement
issued
just
after
the
agency
issued
the
decisions
eagerly
awaited
by
the
crypto
industry
and
investors.
For
full
coverage
of
bitcoin
ETFs,
click
here.
“We
did
not
approve
or
endorse
bitcoin,”
Gensler
said.
“Investors
should
remain
cautious
about
the
myriad
risks
associated
with
bitcoin
and
products
whose
value
is
tied
to
crypto.”
In
fact,
he
said
that
bitcoin
“is
primarily
a
speculative,
volatile
asset
that’s
also
used
for
illicit
activity
including
ransomware,
money
laundering,
sanction
evasion
and
terrorist
financing.”
And
Gensler
sought
to
make
it
clear
that
these
ETF
sign-offs
don’t
pave
the
way
for
any
further
action
from
the
U.S.
securities
regulator.
“It
should
in
no
way
signal
the
commission’s
willingness
to
approve
listing
standards
for
crypto
asset
securities,”
he
said.
“Nor
does
the
approval
signal
anything
about
the
commission’s
views
as
to
the
status
of
other
crypto
assets
under
the
federal
securities
laws
or
about
the
current
state
of
non-compliance
of
certain
crypto
asset
market
participants
with
the
federal
securities
laws.”
Bitcoin
is
the
only
digital
asset
that
Gensler
routinely
acknowledges
is
not
a
security,
maintaining
that
the
vast
majority
of
other
tokens
fit
the
legal
definition
of
securities
that
are
rightfully
under
the
SEC’s
jurisdiction.
Crenshaw’s
Dissent:
‘A
wayward
path’
Another
of
the
five
SEC
commissioners,
Caroline
Crenshaw,
dissented
from
the
approvals.
“They
put
us
on
a
wayward
path
that
could
further
sacrifice
investor
protection,”
she
said
in
a
statement.
“I
cannot
agree
that
these
actions
serve
either
our
statutory
or
foundational
investor
protection
mandates.”
Commissioner
Hester
Peirce,
a
steady
supporter
of
the
crypto
industry
over
the
years,
praised
the
decisions
as
“the
end
of
an
unnecessary,
but
consequential,
saga.”
She
said
that
“the
only
material
change
since
we
last
denied
a
similar
application
was
a
judicial
rebuke,”
referring
to
the
SEC’s
loss
against
Grayscale
in
the
U.S.
Court
of
Appeals
for
the
District
of
Columbia.