Better Markets urges SEC to reject all Bitcoin-ETF filings

The nonprofit Better Markets, in letters to the SEC, urged the agency to reject Bitcoin-ETF filings, citing “potential investor risks.” This is reported in a press release.

According to Steven Hall, the legal director, the crypto industry has suffered $2 trillion in losses.

“Multiple coercive measures, bankruptcies, criminal prosecutions. Dozens of lawsuits over lies, fraud and theft. Meanwhile the main beneficiaries of the crypto craze are criminals who use them to spread ransomware, money laundering and all sorts of illegal activities. It is in this context that the SEC should assess the latest wave of Bitcoin-ETF filings,” said the expert.

According to two letters from Better Markets, the Commission should continue to adhere to a conservative stance.

In filings from many firms, including Invesco, VanEck, 21Shares, WisdomTree and Fidelity, selected Coinbase as a joint sponsor. Representatives of Better Markets stressed that only a small share of global spot crypto-asset trading goes through the American company.

Bitcoin itself, the nonprofit says, is a “commodity actively manipulated through wash trading.” Coinbase is not registered with the SEC or the CFTC, having legal issues.

The organization Better Markets, founded after the 2008 financial crisis, focuses on reforming financial markets.

In June, BlackRock filed an application to launch an exchange-traded fund based on digital gold. The same Galaxy, together with the investment firm Invesco, which manages WisdomTree’s assets, as well as Valkyrie Investments and Fidelity Investments, followed suit. Since April, regulator has been reviewing a similar request from ARK Invest and 21Shares.

So far the SEC has not approved any spot Bitcoin ETFs. The Commission has approved futures-based products for the first cryptocurrency from ProShares and Valkyrie Investments.

Bernstein experts and former SEC Jay Clayton assessed the prospects for a new wave of contenders as high. Earlier, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz called the projected timeline for approving the spot Bitcoin-ETF.