Source: Decrypt
Compiled by: Blockchain Knight
The SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) finally approved the trading of spot BTC ETFs on Wednesday, but several SEC commissioners also bluntly described the losses that this long process of waiting for approval has caused to the institution, investors, and the Crypto asset industry. .
SEC Commissioner Hester Pierce, a long-time advocate of crypto assets and known to fans as the “Mother of Crypto Assets,” issued a statement regarding Wednesday’s SEC approval action.
Prior to this, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler also issued a statement on the approval of the long-awaited BTC ETF, but the tone was relatively reluctant.
Pierce said: "Today marks the end of a saga that is not necessary but important. The United States submitted its first spot BTC ETF application more than 10 years ago. During the six years I worked at the SEC, the question of why a spot BTC ETF was needed Appears often."
Pierce additionally added: “For reasons I have explained many times before, the logic behind the denial of spot BTC ETFs for more than a decade is puzzling. Predicting the approval timeline for spot BTC ETPs is impossible because of these documents The review process is different from the rather straightforward process of approving similar ETPs. The thresholds are constantly changing as the European Commission marks one application after another as rejected.”
Peirce pointed out: “The SEC’s previous failure to take any action resulted in retail investors accessing BTC in a less efficient manner in the securities market. Instead of admitting its mistake, the SEC provided a weak explanation for its original intention to change.”
"This has wasted a decade of our work. If we had adopted the same standards as we apply to other commodity ETPs, we could have approved these products years ago, but we refused to do so until the court gave us a warning."
The SEC's final decision to approve a spot BTC ETF comes after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in August that the agency must review cryptocurrency company Grayscale's application to convert its BTC trust into a true ETF.
The judge wrote that without a “coherent explanation” as to why the spot BTC ETF was rejected, the rejection would appear to be “illegal.”
Gensler referred to the court's ruling in his own statement, writing that while the latest BTC ETF application is similar to previous attempts, "circumstances have changed."
Gensler continued: “Based on these circumstances and what was more fully discussed in the approval order, I believe the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot BTC ETPs.”
Peirce speculated that despite Wednesday’s approval, “the order does not undo the many harms caused by the differential treatment of spot BTC products.” She then dives into a series of specific issues that she believes are caused by the SEC’s staunch opposition to Crypto assets over the past decade.
She explained: “First, our arbitrary and capricious handling of applications in this area will continue to damage our reputation well beyond the scope of Crypto assets. The erosion of public trust will inhibit our ability to effectively regulate the market. This The incident will taint future interactions between the industry and our employees and will undermine the rich, informative dialogue that is the best way to protect investors."
Peirce further noted that she believes this is a waste of resources because "staff may have spent millions of dollars in time blocking these applications" over the years. She also said that during this time, "people's understanding of the SEC's role became unclear."
"Congress did not give us the authority to tell people whether an investment is right for them, yet we abuse administrative procedures to withhold investments we don't like," she said.
In addition, Peirce believes that the SEC’s actions “created an artificial frenzy” around BTC ETFs and that if regulators had followed their own rules, “we could have avoided the circus atmosphere we are in now.”
She also believed that the SEC “alienated a generation of product innovators in our space” and lamented the “costly legal battle” that ultimately led to the approval of a spot BTC ETF.
“While this is a time of reflection, it is also a time of celebration. I am not celebrating BTC or BTC-related products; what one regulator thinks of BTC is irrelevant,” she added, “I am celebrating U.S. investors The right to express their views on BTC by buying and selling spot BTC ETPs.”
She continued: "I celebrate market participants for their persistence in bringing to market products they thought investors wanted, and I commend applicants for persevering in the face of Commission obstruction for a decade."
