The SEC Approves Spot BTC ETPs on Jan 10, 2024
The crypto community celebrated the news on January 10, 2024, when the SEC posted an official announcement that spot BTC ETPs from 11 applicants were officially approved.
The news came one day after the embarrassing (or enraging) negligence by the Securities and Exchange Commission's "compromised announcement" (this is questionable at best) where Gary Gensler Tweeted that the SEC's Twitter account had been "compromised" and Spot BTC ETPs were not approved. I believe what probably happened was an intern or employee at the SEC posted the draft announcement accidentally a day early. Twitter security responded by saying that the SEC's Twitter account was not set up to be protected by 2FA, which is mind-blowingly negligent for a government Agency. It's also hypocritical, as the Agency has urged the public to take security measures seriously, including using two-factor authentication (2FA).
One last thought about the leak debacle – why do we want our government to be using private for-profit social media platforms? They have an official .gov website for announcements – shouldn't they stick to that?
Mr. Gensler ended the approval announcement with the following kicking-and-screaming temper tantrum:
Though we’re merit neutral, I’d note that the underlying assets in the metals ETPs have consumer and industrial uses, while in contrast bitcoin is primarily a speculative, volatile asset that’s also used for illicit activity including ransomware, money laundering, sanction evasion, and terrorist financing.
While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.
Merit neutral? Yeah, right.
It is interesting that Gensler says that metals have "consumer uses." Really? Do consumers make use of gold and silver bullion? Or do they just sit in a safe, collecting dust? Of course gold and silver have industrial uses, but this is an odd distraction from the main issue of the BTC Spot ETP approval.
After praising gold and silver, Gensler then attempts to drag BTC through the mud, including citations to "authority."
Last time I checked, "penny stocks" were speculative, volatile assets.
And now let's talk about dirty fiat and the USD. Did you know that the U.S. Dollar has been used for ransomeware via Paypal?
Did you know that the U.S. dollar has been used in money laundering?
The U.S. government of course needs to flex its financial power in global financial sanctions, right? Cryptocurrency strips the government of this power, since it is borderless and permissionless. That's not a reason to ban cryptocurrency – and it's definitely not a logical reason to ban Spot BTC ETPs.
Finally, terrorist financing? It has been argued that the U.S. Government itself ends up funding terrorists and wars. Also, non-profits have been found to fund terrorism. The solution is not to ban non-profits; the solution is not to ban Bitcoin.
The level of vitriol aimed at Bitcoin by the chair of the SEC, Gary Gensler, is quite ironic given that he was a professor at MIT lecturing on Bitcoin and Blockchain technology.
It seems that there is a quiet political war brewing in the background against Cryptocurrency as a whole. The negative attitudes are insidious and most often occult. This author wishes to push back against government overreach and allow the free market to operate the way it is intended. The SEC has proven itself to be negligent in its duties to protect the public and politics have overtaken their core mission.
For now, I am grateful that we have made this progress and the American public can join the world in freely investing in cryptocurrency through an alternative vehicle like the Spot BTC ETPs.
Now, wen Spot XCH ETPs?