Statement
Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products
Chair Gary Gensler
Jan. 10, 2024
Today, the Commission approved the listing and trading of a number of spot bitcoin exchange-traded product (ETP) shares.
I have often said that the Commission acts within the law and how the courts interpret the law. Beginning under Chair Jay Clayton in 2018 and through March 2023, the Commission disapproved more than 20 exchange rule filings for spot bitcoin ETPs. One of those filings, made by Grayscale, contemplated the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETP.
We are now faced with a new set of filings similar to those we have disapproved in the past. Circumstances, however, have changed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia held that the Commission failed to adequately explain its reasoning in disapproving the listing and trading of Grayscale’s proposed ETP (the Grayscale Order).[1] The court therefore vacated the Grayscale Order and remanded the matter to the Commission. Based on these circumstances and those discussed more fully in the approval order, I feel the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot bitcoin ETP shares.
The Commission evaluates any rule filing by a national securities exchange based upon whether it is consistent with the Exchange Act and regulations thereunder, including whether it is designed to protect investors and the public interest. The Commission is merit neutral and does not take a view on particular companies, investments, or the assets underlying an ETP. If the issuer of a security and the listing exchange comply with the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, and the Commission’s rules, that issuer must be provided the same access to our regulated markets as anyone else.
Importantly, today’s Commission action is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin. It should in no way signal the Commission’s willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities. Nor does the approval signal anything about the Commission’s views as to the status of other crypto assets under the federal securities laws or about the current state of non-compliance of certain crypto asset market participants with the federal securities laws. As I’ve said in the past, and without prejudging any one crypto asset, the vast majority of crypto assets are investment contracts and thus subject to the federal securities laws.[2]
Investors today can already buy and sell or otherwise gain exposure to bitcoin at a number of brokerage houses, through mutual funds, on national securities exchanges, through peer-to peer payment apps, on non-compliant crypto trading platforms, and, of course, through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Today’s action will include certain protections for investors:
First, sponsors of bitcoin ETPs will be required to provide full, fair, and truthful disclosure about the products. Investors in any bitcoin ETP that is listed and traded will benefit from the disclosure included in public registration statements and required periodic filings. While these disclosures are required, it is important to note that today’s action does not endorse the disclosed ETP arrangements, such as custody arrangements.
Second, these products will be listed and traded on registered national securities exchanges. Such regulated exchanges are required to have rules designed to prevent fraud and manipulation, and we will monitor them closely to ensure that they are enforcing those rules. Furthermore, the Commission will fully investigate any fraud or manipulation in the securities markets, including schemes that use social media platforms.[3] Such regulated exchanges also have rules designed to address certain conflicts of interest as well as to protect investors and the public interest.
Further, existing rules and standards of conduct will apply to the purchase and sale of the approved ETPs. This includes, for example, Regulation Best Interest when broker-dealers recommend ETPs to retail investors, as well as a fiduciary duty under the Investment Advisers Act for investment advisers. Today’s action does not approve or endorse crypto trading platforms or intermediaries, which, for the most part, are non-compliant with the federal securities laws and often have conflicts of interest.
Third, Commission staff is separately completing the review of registration statements for 10 spot bitcoin ETPs simultaneously, which will help create a level playing field for issuers and promote fairness and competition, benefiting investors and the broader market.
Since 2004, this agency has had experience overseeing spot non-security commodity ETPs, such as those holding certain precious metals. That experience will be valuable in our oversight of spot bitcoin ETP trading.
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,[4] money laundering,[5] sanction evasion,[6] and terrorist financing.[7]
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.[8]
[1] See Grayscale Investments, LLC v. SEC, No. 22-1142, 82 F.4th 1239 (D.C. Cir. 2023).
[2] Courts have similarly found that certain crypto assets were offered and sold as investment contracts. See, e.g., SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., No. 23-cv-1346, 2023 WL 8944860 (S.D.N.Y. Dec. 28, 2023); SEC v. Blockvest, LLC, No. 18-cv-2287, 2019 WL 625163, at 4-9 (S.D. Cal. Feb. 14, 2019); SEC v. Nat. Diamonds Inv. Co., 19-cv-80633, 2019 WL 13277296, at 8-10 (S.D. Fla. May 28, 2019); SEC v. Telegram Grp. Inc., 448 F. Supp. 3d 352, 368-79 (S.D.N.Y. 2020), appeal dismissed, No. 20-1076, 2020 WL 3467671 (2d Cir. May 22, 2020); SEC v. Kik Interactive Inc., 492 F. Supp. 3d 169, 177-80 (S.D.N.Y. 2020); SEC v. NAC Found., LLC, 512 F. Supp. 3d 988, 995-97 (N.D. Cal. 2021); SEC v. LBRY, Inc., 639 F. Supp. 3d 211, 216-21 (D.N.H. 2022), appeal dismissed, No. 23-1743 (1st Cir. Oct. 23, 2023); SEC v. Terraform Labs Pte. Ltd., No. 23-cv-1346, 2023 WL 4858299, at 10-15 (S.D.N.Y. July 31, 2023).
[3] See SEC v. Constantin, No. 22 Civ. 4306 (S.D. Tex.).
[4] See U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Securities & Government Affairs, “Use of Cryptocurrency in Ransomware Attacks, Available Data, and National Security Concerns” (May 24, 2022), available at https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/imo/media/doc/HSGAC%20Majority%20Cryptocurrency%20Ransomware%20Report_Executive%20Summary.pdf.
[5] See Basel Institute on Governance, “Quick Guide 1: Cryptocurrencies and Money Laundering Investigations” (August 2023), available at https://baselgovernance.org/publications/quick-guide-1-cryptocurrencies-and-money-laundering-investigations. See also Chainalysis, “Crypto Money Laundering: Four Exchange Deposit Addresses Received Over $1 Billion in Illicit Funds in 2022” (Jan. 26, 2023), available at https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/crypto-money-laundering-2022/.
[6] See Center for Strategic & International Studies, “Cryptocurrencies and U.S. Sanctions Evasion: Implications for Russia” (Dec. 20, 2022), available at https://www.csis.org/analysis/cryptocurrencies-and-us-sanctions-evasion-implications-russia. See also UK Finance, “The Cyber-Crypto-Sanctions Nexus” (Feb. 4, 2020), available at https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/news-and-insight/blogs/cyber-crypto-sanctions-nexus.
[7] See Congressional Research Service, “Terrorist Financing: Hamas and Cryptocurrency Fundraising” (Nov. 27, 2023), available at https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF12537; U.S. Department of the Treasury, “Following Terrorist Attack on Israel, Treasury Sanctions Hamas Operatives and Financial Facilitators” (Oct. 18, 2023), available at https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1816; The Rand Corporation, “Terrorist Use of Cryptocurrencies: Technical and Organizational Barriers and Future Threats” (2019), available at https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR3026.html.
[8] See, e.g., Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, “Exercise Caution with Crypto Asset Securities: Investor Alert” (March 23, 2023), available at https://www.investor.gov/introduction-investing/general-resources/news-alerts/alerts-bulletins/investor-bulletins/crypto-asset-securities.
Statement
Out, Damned Spot! Out, I Say![1]: Statement on Omnibus Approval Order for List and Trade Bitcoin-Based Commodity-Based Trust Shares and Trust Units
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
Jan. 10, 2024
Today marks the end of an unnecessary, but consequential, saga. More than ten years after the filing of the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded product (“ETP”) application, the Commission finally has approved multiple applications by exchanges to allow the listing and trading of spot bitcoin ETPs. This saga likely would have spanned well beyond a decade were it not for the DC Circuit-ex-machina.[2] You need not be a seasoned securities lawyer to spot the difference in treatment of bitcoin-related ETP applications compared to the many other ETP applications that have been routinely filed and approved over the past decade.
ETPs are an important innovation. Through them, investors can gain exposure to securities and non-securities, such as precious metals, in a convenient vehicle. Even if that exposure is available directly elsewhere, the ETP structure offers its own advantages. ETP shares trade continually on national stock exchanges at market prices, much as regular stocks do. By creating and redeeming shares of the fund, institutional traders, called authorized participants, help to maintain the price of these shares in line with the price of the assets in the investment pool. ETPs are accessible to investors and operate within the framework of the federal securities laws.
Since I became a Commissioner six years ago, one of the questions I have been asked most frequently is “When will the Commission approve a spot bitcoin ETP?” For reasons I have explained many times before, the logic of the long string of denials is perplexing.[3] Predicting approval timelines for spot bitcoin ETPs was impossible because the review process for these filings did not resemble the fairly straightforward processes for approving comparable ETPs. The goalposts kept moving as the Commission slapped “DENIED” on application after application.
Bitcoin-based products have been trading for years under other regulatory regimes. In 2017, for example, the CME and the CBOE, which are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, listed bitcoin futures.[4] Foreign jurisdictions have long allowed spot bitcoin ETPs to trade. The Commission should have drawn comfort from the successful launch and smooth trading of these products, even through market stress and volatility. Instead, until today, the Commission remained steadfast in its unwillingness to let spot bitcoin ETPs into US markets.
In the meantime, the Commission has driven retail investors to less efficient means of attaining bitcoin exposure in the securities markets.[5] For example, retail investors could hold it through non-exchange traded products or get some exposure by buying into companies or funds that owned or mined bitcoin. And, in 2021, bitcoin futures exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”), registered under the 1940 Act, started to trade given the Commission had no legal basis for stopping them. In 2022, the Commission approved the trading of bitcoin futures ETPs registered under the 1933 Act. These futures-based products are more complex and more difficult to manage than the spot product, which can translate into higher costs for investors. In any case, the Commission’s basis for letting these products trade should have been an equally compelling basis for letting spot products trade: the correlation between the bitcoin futures prices and the spot prices is high, which means that the regulated futures market is as relevant for a product based on spot bitcoin as it is for a fund investing in bitcoin futures. But, until a court reminded us that our “unexplained discounting of the obvious financial and mathematical relationship between the spot and futures markets falls short of the standard for reasoned decisionmaking,”[6] we persisted in denying a spot bitcoin ETP.
The Commission, rather than admitting error, offers a weak explanation for its change of heart. In the past, the Commission, allowing our prejudice against the underlying asset to get in the way, has rejected applications on the basis that the bitcoin market was still immature and that there were outstanding manipulation concerns. Today’s approval order notes that the Commission now finds that means for “preventing fraud and manipulation” have been demonstrated because the prices on the CME bitcoin futures market and the spot bitcoin markets have been highly correlated throughout the past two-and-a-half years.[7] We have denied multiple applications over that period, depriving investors of the opportunity to gain exposure to bitcoin in a more convenient and investor-friendly way. The only material change since we last denied a similar application was a judicial rebuke.
We squandered a decade of opportunities to do our job. If we had applied the standard we use for other commodity-based ETPs, we could have approved these products years ago, but we refused to do so until a court called our bluff. And even now our approval comes only begrudgingly,[8] as demonstrated by our continued insistence that these products satisfy a correlation test we have not demanded of prior commodity-based ETPs.[9] Perhaps the one silver lining here is now that we know that the Commission can execute a robust correlation analysis, perhaps the road to approving other spot crypto ETPs will not be as bumpy (even if the Commission insists on continuing to apply a test it applies nowhere else).
Today’s order does not undo the many harms created by the disparate treatment of spot bitcoin products.
First, our arbitrary and capricious treatment of applications in this area will continue to harm our reputation far beyond crypto. Diminished trust from the public will inhibit our ability to regulate the markets effectively. This saga will taint future interactions between the industry and our staff and will dampen the rich, informative dialogue that best protects investors.
Second, our disproportionate attention on these filings has diverted limited staff resources away from other mission critical work. Over ten years, likely millions of dollars of staff time has gone toward blocking these applications.
Third, our actions here have muddied people’s understanding of what the SEC’s role is. Congress did not authorize us to tell people whether a particular investment is right for them, but we have abused administrative procedures to withhold investments that we do not like from the public.
Fourth, by failing to follow our normal standards and processes in considering spot bitcoin ETPs, we have created an artificial frenzy around them. Had these products come to market in the way other comparable products typically have, we would have avoided the circus atmosphere in which we now find ourselves.
Fifth, we have alienated a generation of product innovators within our space. Our unreasonable approach to these applications has signaled that regulatory prejudice against new products and services can lead us to sidestep the law and unreasonably delay product launches. The industry has logged hundreds of meetings, has filed submissions, withdrawals and amendments, and ultimately had to resort to a costly legal battle to get us to today.
Although this is a time for reflection, it is also a time for celebration. I am not celebrating bitcoin or bitcoin-related products; what one regulator thinks about bitcoin is irrelevant. I am celebrating the right of American investors to express their thoughts on bitcoin by buying and selling spot bitcoin ETPs.[10] And I am celebrating the perseverance of market participants in trying to bring to market a product they think investors want. I commend applicants’ decade-long persistence in the face of the Commission’s obstruction.
[1] William Shakespeare, Macbeth (1605-1606).
[2] Grayscale Investments, LLC v. Sec. and Exch. Comm., No. 22-1142 (Aug. 29, 2023), at 2, available at https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/32C91E3A96E9442285258A1A004FD576/$file/22-1142-2014527.pdf (responding to a challenge by Grayscale, which had sought Commission approval to convert its Bitcoin Trust into an ETP, the court wrote “[t]he denial of Grayscale’s proposal was arbitrary and capricious because the Commission failed to explain its different treatment of similar products”).
[3] See, e.g., Hester M. Peirce and Mark T. Uyeda, Statement Regarding the Commission’s Disapproval of a Proposed Rule Change to List and Trade Shares of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust (Mar. 10, 2023), available at https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/peirce-uyeda-statement-vaneck-bitcoin-trust-031023; Hester M. Peirce, On the Spot: Remarks at “Regulatory Transparency Project Conference on Regulating the New Crypto Ecosystem: Necessary Regulation or Crippling Future Innovation?” (June 14, 2022), available at https://www.sec.gov/news/speech/peirce-remarks-regulatory-transparency-project-conference; Hester M. Peirce, Dissenting Statement in Response to Release No. 34-88284 (Feb. 26, 2020), available at https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissenting-statement-34-88284; Hester M. Peirce, Dissent to Release No. 34-83723 (July 26, 2018), available at https://www.sec.gov/news/public-statement/peirce-dissent-34-83723.
[4] See Commodity Futures Trading Comm., CFTC Statement on Self-Certification of Bitcoin Products by CME, CFE and Cantor Exchange, Rel No. 7654-17 (Dec. 1, 2017), available at https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7654-17.
[5] Buying bitcoin directly has always been an option, but it is not a good option for an investor that wants bitcoin exposure through a securities product.
[6] Grayscale v. SEC at 14.
[7] See Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Order Granting Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule Changes, as Modified by Amendments Thereto, to List and Trade Bitcoin-Based Commodity-Based Trust Shares and Trust Units (Jan. 10, 2024) (“Approval Order”) at 9. The Order goes on to state:
[I]n contrast to previous proposals, based on the record before the Commission and the improved quality of the correlation analysis in the record, including the Commission’s own analysis, the Commission is able to conclude that fraud or manipulation that impacts prices in spot bitcoin markets would likely similarly impact CME bitcoin futures prices. And because the CME’s surveillance can assist in detecting those impacts on CME bitcoin futures prices, the Exchanges’ comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with the CME—a U.S. regulated market whose bitcoin futures market is consistently highly correlated to spot bitcoin, albeit not of “significant size” related to spot bitcoin—can be reasonably expected to assist in detecting and deterring fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices in the specific context of the Proposals.
Id. at 10 (footnotes omitted).
[8] As an example, the filings require cash redemption, as opposed to in-kind redemption, which is standard for similar ETPs. The consequences of this feature may not be favorable for investors. See, e.g., Comment Letter of James J. Angel at 2 (Dec. 12, 2023), available at https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2021-90/srnysearca202190-310539-807962.pdf (“With cash creation/redemption, the ETF (and thus the shareholders) suffers the transaction costs of buying and selling bitcoin. These costs include the bid-ask spread along with the operational costs from the labor and overhead involved in calculating, executing, monitoring, and accounting for transactions in the various bitcoin markets. Costs to ETF shareholders will be lower if the ETF does not have to pay to build a competent trading capacity in bitcoin. Furthermore, there are timing costs involved in the risk that the bitcoin price moves between the time when the NAV is established for a creation/redemption and the time when the bitcoin is traded. Given the high volatility of bitcoin, this is a real risk. There is no reason to force the shareholders to bear this execution risk when it is not necessary.”).
[9] For an excellent discussion of this issue, see Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda, Statement Regarding the Commission’s Approval of Proposed Rule Changes to List and Trade Shares of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products (Jan. 10, 2024).
[10] See, e.g., J. Christopher Giancarlo, Remarks at the 4th Annual DC Blockchain Summer: The Digital Trinity: Technology, Markets, and Policy (Mar. 6, 2019), available at https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opagiancarlo66 (reflection on the launch of bitcoin futures by then CFTC Chairman Chris Giancarlo, noting that the futures markets enabled many voices to weigh in on the value of bitcoin).
SEC gives bitcoin ETFs the green light
Updated 6:04 PM EST, Wed January 10, 2024
New York CNN — After a false start Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission gave its approval Wednesday for some investment companies to offer “spot bitcoin” exchange-traded funds.
The regulator’s highly anticipated move is expected to make bitcoin investing more accessible to Main Street investors, without requiring them to own the digital asset directly.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler made it clear in a statement on the SEC’s website that the agency remains wary. “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,” he wrote.
The SEC had a deadline of January 10 to offer a decision for just one of the 11 firms that applied to offer bitcoin ETFs. On Wednesday it offered approval to all 11 of them.
Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, has a current market cap of roughly $900 billion. It has seen volatile price swings throughout its 15-year history. Most recently, after hitting an all-time high of nearly $69,000 in November 2021, it fell below $17,000 during the “crypto winter” of 2022 and has mostly been trading north of $45,000 in the run-up to the SEC’s decision.
About an hour after the news Wednesday, the price of bitcoin was up 0.3%% to nearly $46,000, according to data on coinmarketcap.com.
After the stock market close on Tuesday, a post on the SEC’s X account falsely claimed the regulatory agency had approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.
That was quickly debunked by Gensler, and the SEC took down the message. According to X, an “unidentified individual obtaining control over a phone number associated with the @SECGov account through a third party” was responsible for the post. On Wednesday, the SEC said the FBI was looking into the matter.
Bitcoin ETFs, like bitcoin, carry risks for investors
For those considering jumping on the bitcoin bandwagon, it’s important to note that the price of a bitcoin will be just as volatile whether you invest in it directly yourself or through an ETF.
Earlier this week, Gensler posted a thread on X warning investors of the risks of crypto investing generally. “Investments in crypto assets also can be exceptionally risky & are often volatile. A number of major platforms & crypto assets have become insolvent and/or lost value. Investments in crypto assets continue to be subject to significant risk,” his post read.
Those sentiments have been echoed by many financial advisers and the investor watchdog group Better Markets, which strongly opposed the SEC’s approval of bitcoin ETFs. Among its objections is the bitcoin market’s history of artificially inflated trading volumes known as “wash” trading.
In a scathing statement following the SEC’s announcement, the group’s president and CEO Dennis Kelleher pulled no punches. “With the flagrantly lawless crypto industry crashing and burning due to a mountain of arrests, criminal convictions, bankruptcies, lawsuits, scandals, massive losses, and millions of investor and customer victims, who would have thought that the SEC would come to its rescue by approving a trusted and familiar investment vehicle that will enable the mass marketing of a known worthless, volatile, and fraud-filled financial product to Main Street Americans.”
Of course, there are many crypto advocates who are very pleased with the move. “A spot Bitcoin ETF is a bridge between traditional finance and the burgeoning world of crypto. Allowing investors to partake in the bitcoin journey without the technical hurdles of direct ownership is a significant step towards inclusivity,” said Sheila Warren, CEO of the Crypto Council for Innovation in an emailed statement.
The full list of companies that got SEC approval to launch bitcoin ETFs are: Ark Invest together with 21 Shares; Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Grayscale, Hashdex, Invesco, WisdomTree, Valkyrie and VanEck. Some of their ETFs will be trading as soon as tomorrow.
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