U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick McHenry said he would “closely” watch how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) responds to BlackRock’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF in a June 16 tweet.
McHenry noted that while the decision now rests with SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the financial regulator “must not pick winners and losers based on inconsistent factors.”
The lawmaker’s comment suggests that the SEC would have to explain why it rejected all the previous spot Bitcoin ETF applications from other crypto firms if it approves that of BlackRock.
Considering BlackRock’s status as one of the biggest investment firms in the world and its influence, several crypto community members believe the SEC will be under significant pressure to approve its application.
BlackRock’s ETF application
On June 15, BlackRock applied for a Bitcoin spot ETF. Coinbase Custody would act as the custodian for the digital assets, while the Bank of New York Mellon would hold the ETF’s fiat.
According to its application, the SEC has previously approved unregulated spot exchange-traded products in the commodities and currency markets by relying on the underlying futures market. Thus, “the regulated market of significant size test does not require that the spot bitcoin market be regulated in order for the Commission to approve this proposal.”
SEC has a history of rejecting Bitcoin spot ETFs
The Commission has rejected over 10 spot Bitcoin ETF applications from different firms, including Ark Invest, 21 Shares, WisdomTree, Fidelity, SkyBridge, Valkyrie Investments, and VanEck.
Additionally, the regulator has frustrated Grayscale Investments’ effort to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot ETF. The crypto investment firm is currently challenging the SEC’s decision in court.
In these cases, the Commission has consistently maintained that these firms’ applications failed to comply with certain sections of the Securities Exchange Act and were not designed to prevent fraud and market manipulation or protect investors and public interests.
However, the SEC has approved various Bitcoin futures ETFs since October 2021, including ProShares Bitcoin Strategy (BITO) and Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF).
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
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Crypto mining could be legal in Russia as soon as 2024, according to the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov.
Aksakov remarked at the 2023 St Petersburg International Economic Forum on the role mining can play in the Russian economy.
According to the event’s English interpreter, the legislator stated that the first reading of the four bills that will legalize crypto mining in the country is scheduled for July, and the State Duma will adopt the bills. It will kick start the process for them to become law.
Besides regulating crypto mining, the bills will cover topics such as crypto mining regulations, taxation of miners, and penalties for illegal mining activities.
According to the Russian Ministry of Finance, the country’s miners generate approximately $4 billion worth of crypto, resulting in around $1.2 billion in profits. The Ministry also emphasized Russia’s growing role in the mining space, highlighting that it produces the second-largest mining power in the world.
Russia is embracing crypto for international transactions.
However, Russian authorities’ dance with crypto is not about internal adoption but its usage for cross-border transactions.
With the country facing sanctions from various world powers over its invasion of Ukraine, authorities have been looking at ways to lessen the impact on international trade.
Aksakov noted that the mined cryptocurrencies would be used for cross-border settlements with foreign partners. This aligns with earlier reports that the country’s Central Bank wants to allow Russian entities to establish specialized authorized organizations for cryptocurrency mining.
Additionally, the regulator, which has an anti-crypto stance, supports using crypto for international payments.
More recently, one of the largest banks in the Federation, Rosbank, showed intent to support payments for imported goods and services in crypto. The bank stated that these transactions would strictly comply with existing legislative requirements.
Oluwapelumi values Bitcoin's potential. He imparts insights on a range of topics like DeFi, hacks, mining and culture, underlining transformative power.
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Disclaimer: Our writers' opinions are solely their own and do not reflect the opinion of CryptoSlate. None of the information you read on CryptoSlate should be taken as investment advice, nor does CryptoSlate endorse any project that may be mentioned or linked to in this article. Buying and trading cryptocurrencies should be considered a high-risk activity. Please do your own due diligence before taking any action related to content within this article. Finally, CryptoSlate takes no responsibility should you lose money trading cryptocurrencies.
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