The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is reconsidering its approach to cryptocurrencies and exchange-traded funds Bitcoin (ETF) after a recent legal loss to Grayscale. The president of the American regulator, Gary Genslermentioned in an interview with ‘CNBC’ that they are reviewing their position based on previous court rulings.
Gensler, when asked if he was making direct reference to the Grayscale ruling, avoided a clear answer, ensuring that lThe SEC acts within the legal framework established by Congress and in accordance with the interpretation of the courts.
Grayscale’s legal victory in August forced the SEC to consider the company’s request to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) fund into a spot ETF. The court found that the SEC had not adequately justified its reasons for rejecting previous BTC spot ETF applications, especially when it had approved futures ETFs like BITO.
This court ruling led the SEC to hold meetings with Grayscale, BlackRock and other applicants to evaluate the possibility of approving spot ETFs. About a dozen of these ETFs are expected to be authorized by the SEC in the first half of January, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst, James Seyffart.
GBTC shares are currently trading at a 9% discount, considerably less than their previous 50% discount. Experts also note that approving multiple spot ETFs could be a strategy to avoid favoring a single particular company.providing equal opportunities in the cryptocurrency market.
Bitcoin falls despite good news
The largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization breaks a streak of three consecutive days of increases in which the maximum it reached was US$43,026. Despite the good news about the SEC’s soft tone, BTC falls 2% this Friday and drills the US$42,000. For its part, Ethereum stands above the US$2,200.
Cryptocurrency investors continue to positively value the recent monetary policy decision of the Federal Reserve (Fed), which kept interest rates unchanged, although it anticipated up to three cuts in official rates for next year. The market was enthusiastic about the central bank’s determination and the tone used by Powell, which triggered strong increases and briefly took bitcoin above $43,000.
Now, the focus is on predicting when the Fed will carry out these cuts, with more than 80% of analysts leaning towards a first rate cut in March, according to data from CME’s FedWatch tool.
Despite this optimism, some experts are cautious regarding the potential of these funds, anticipating that the entry of institutional capital into the market will not have the expected impact. Among them are JP Morgan strategists, who consider Bitcoin to be clearly “overbought.” They assure that Ethereum (ETH) has more foundations for a solid performance in 2024 than the leading cryptocurrency, despite the fact that the latest updates to its network have not been as encouraging as expected.
Source: Ambito
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