Senator Elizabeth Warren asserted on Jan. 11 that U.S. securities regulators incorrectly determined to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Warren wrote in a publish on X:
“The [Securities and Exchange Commission] is incorrect on the regulation and incorrect on the coverage with respect to the Bitcoin ETF choice. If the SEC goes to let crypto burrow even deeper into our monetary system, then it’s extra pressing than ever that crypto observe primary anti-money laundering guidelines.”
Warren’s exact complaints are unknown, and whether or not she is going to clarify these points in full in a future letter to the SEC is unclear.
Nevertheless, the ultimate a part of her assertion seems to advocate for anti-money laundering guidelines that will lengthen past exchange-traded funds particularly. Warren has been advancing laws referred to as the Digital Asset Anti-Cash Laundering Act since its reintroduction in July 2023. The contents of that invoice would apply to the cryptocurrency trade generally.
Some members of the SEC seem like sympathetic to Warren’s warfare on crypto crime. Regardless of voting to approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, SEC chair Gary Gensler famous crypto abuses, together with crime and terrorism in his approval assertion and urged customers to be “cautious concerning the myriad dangers” round Bitcoin.
Dissenting SEC commissioner Caroline A. Crenshaw extra harshly acknowledged that Bitcoin markets are “marred by fraud and manipulation” and lack of oversight.
Legislation doesn’t require SEC to approve or reject ETFs
Warren’s criticism of ETFs obtained large backlash on social media. Many commenters recommended {that a} ruling regarding Grayscale‘s ETF utility in the end led the SEC to approve numerous spot Bitcoin ETFs. That ruling initially appears to counter Warren’s suggestion that the SEC was “incorrect on the regulation.”
Nevertheless, the end result of the Grayscale case didn’t require the SEC to approve any fund. Gensler acknowledged that the end result of Grayscale’s authorized case was one issue that made approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs the “most sustainable path ahead” however didn’t state that the SEC was required to subject approvals.
Grayscale’s ruling required the SEC to overview its spot Bitcoin ETF utility. The court docket additionally discovered that the SEC had failed to clarify its reasoning for rejecting the appliance in gentle of earlier Bitcoin futures ETF approvals.
The publish Senator Elizabeth Warren: SEC was incorrect in its spot Bitcoin ETF choice appeared first on CryptoSlate.