The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently gave the green light to several fund managers to list spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Despite this landmark approval, SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda expressed “strong concerns” about three aspects of the approval order.
Although Uyeda voted in favor of the Bitcoin ETF applications, he criticized the Commission’s analytical approach. He fears that the SEC’s rationale and legal analysis could set a worrying precedent for the future. Uyeda stated, “The flawed reasoning in the (spot Bitcoin ETF) Approval Order could reverberate for years to come.”
Uyeda believes that the SEC missed an opportunity to treat Bitcoin like any other commodity. He argues that the Commission has historically singled out Bitcoin ETFs after they failed to meet its novel “significant size” test. He stated, “Under that standard, spot Bitcoin ETP [exchange-traded product] applications should have been approved long ago.”
Uyeda also claimed that the approval order provides no additional explanation for why it continues to treat spot Bitcoin ETPs differently than Bitcoin futures ETPs under the “significant market” test. Despite none of the BTC ETF applicants satisfying the SEC’s significant market test, the SEC’s approval cited “other means” that satisfied the requirements.
Uyeda criticized the SEC for inventing a new standard after forcing applicants to spend years pursuing the “significant market” requirement. He said, “Rather than requiring applicants to make multiple attempts in the dark in hopes that they might finally present an argument leading to approval under the ‘significant market’ test, the Commission should have actively made its expectations known.”
Uyeda also suggested that the SEC’s motivation for accelerating the spot BTC ETF approvals was to gain a first-mover advantage. He pointed out the lack of analysis as to how the cash-only creation and redemption feature could prevent fraud. He emphasized that such approval orders must provide transparency in their analysis and reasoning.
Despite his objections to the legal analysis set forth in the order, Uyeda concluded, “However, because I have independent reasons for concluding that the applications satisfy the standards for approval set forth in the Exchange Act, I support the issuance of the Approval Order.”
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | negative |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Mark Uyeda, Rune Christensen |
| Companies | MakerDAO, United States Securities and Exchange Commission |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
