SEC approves bitcoin-based exchange-traded funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a series of proposed rule changes that will allow for the listing and trading of bitcoin-based products on national securities exchanges.

Details: SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the vote aligned with an appellate court ruling and federal securities laws, though he noted the vote does not endorse bitcoin or signal the agency’s views on the status of other crypto assets, the vast majority of which he said are investment contracts and thus subject to federal securities laws. In a dissent, SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw said the actions were “unsound and ahistorical” and risk sacrificing investor protection.

ICBA View: ICBA has said it supports the SEC’s efforts to apply securities laws and regulations to crypto entities because it agrees that most cryptoassets likely qualify as securities. It has separately said the International Organization of Securities Commissions’ policy recommendations for digital assets markets—the first attempt to establish baseline crypto policies—are prudent steps to safeguard the financial system from crypto.

More: Recent Main Street Matters posts from ICBA Senior Vice President of Digital Assets and Innovation Policy Brian Laverdure cover recent crypto collapses, the evolving regulatory environment for digital assets, and the policy debate over treating cryptoassets as securities or commodities.