After a dizzying 24 hours that included market-moving false alarms and boundless anticipation from crypto enthusiasts, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirmed late Wednesday that it had approved a series of proposed exchange-traded funds, or ETFs. The price of Bitcoin.
The approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs includes ETFs from the most successful companies such as Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco and others. The move is seen as a major endorsement of digital currencies by the country’s primary securities regulator, which has long expressed concerns about widespread fraud in the crypto world and even fought in court over the issue. It had previously refused to approve more than 20 Bitcoin-related products.
“Based on these circumstances and what is discussed further in the approval order, I think the most sustainable path forward is to approve the listing and trading of these spot Bitcoin [exchange-traded product] shares,” Gensler said.
ETFs can begin trading on major exchanges such as Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange starting Thursday.
Bitcoin’s price remained unusually stable in the hours after the announcement; This was in sharp contrast to earlier this week, when a fake tweet from the official SEC X account said the Bitcoin ETF was approved on Tuesday night. It turned out that the account was hacked. The price of the cryptocurrency spiked briefly and then fell just as quickly.
Some industry observers wonder whether the price will drop again after the initial excitement around ETFs wears off. Importantly, the funds do not allow investors to trade Bitcoin directly; however, they may carry similar risks associated with cryptocurrency’s sometimes volatile price fluctuations.