Opinion: Gary Gensler not opposed to Bitcoin

The chairman of the SEC Gary Gensler ‘is actually pro-Bitcoin’, and his views on cryptocurrency regulation are ‘slightly misinterpreted’. This view was expressed by Volt Equity founder and CEO Ted Park in an interview with Fox Business.

He believes the regulator has good grounds to delay approving Bitcoin-based ETFs.

According to Park, the SEC sees investor protection as its primary task, and custodial-service providers have failed to convince the Commission that they are truly capable of safeguarding digital assets.

“I can say: I have a gold ETF or a Bitcoin ETF, but I store that gold in my basement. Would the SEC allow such? Probably not. If companies cannot show that they can store it and actually address many of the issues that Gensler specifically mentioned, this won’t work,” Park said.

The Volt Equity CEO noted that ‘in at least half of crypto ETF filings, what Gensler says was not taken into account’.

According to Arcane Research, as of early October there were 12 spot Bitcoin ETF filings and seven based on futures under review by the SEC.

In August, the head of the SEC stated that the regulator would consider Bitcoin ETFs if they are based on futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and comply with the Investment Company Act of 1940.

Following his remarks, a wave of filings for registration of such funds followed from Valkyrie Investments, VanEck, Invesco, ProShares, Galaxy Digital, AdvisorShares and BlockFi. The proposed investment products do not involve direct exposure to cryptocurrency.

Earlier Volt Equity received SEC approval to launch an exchange-traded fund based on shares of Bitcoin-focused companies. Park stressed that the instrument does not provide direct access to digital gold.

“We are trying to understand what people are really looking for, what correlates with Bitcoin’s price. These companies are genuinely focused on cryptocurrency and derive a large share of their revenues and profits from it. It makes sense that their stock prices tend to move with its price,” Park explained.

Bloomberg analysts predicted that the regulator would launch the first Bitcoin ETF by the end of October.

CEO Pantera Capital Dan Morehead suggested that this development could have a negative impact on the price of cryptocurrencies.