{"id":148432,"date":"2023-08-14T07:38:03","date_gmt":"2023-08-14T07:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/?p=148443"},"modified":"2023-08-19T15:28:34","modified_gmt":"2023-08-19T15:28:34","slug":"bitcoin-etf-approval-unlikely-in-near-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/bitcoin-etf-approval-unlikely-in-near-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin ETF Approval Unlikely in Near Future: Ex-SEC Official"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In an August 15 statement on X (formerly Twitter),<strong> former SEC official John Reed Stark shed light on the likelihood of the SEC approving a <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/what-is-bitcoin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bitcoin (BTC)<\/a> exchange-traded funds (ETFs) soon<\/strong>. Stark&#8217;s insights provide a valuable perspective on this ongoing debate related to Bitcoin ETF within the crypto community.<!--more--><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Will the SEC Approve Any Of The Recent Bitcoin Spot ETF Applications?<\/p>\n<p>People often ask for my opinion on whether the SEC will approve any of the recent spate of bitcoin spot ETF applications, which is an interesting and important question.<\/p>\n<p>My take is that the current SEC will\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/lPXebl03Y4\" target=\"_blank\">pic.twitter.com\/lPXebl03Y4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JohnReedStark\/status\/1690707913789112320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 13, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Challenges in Approving Bitcoin ETF<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Stark believes that the current SEC&#8217;s stance on approving spot Bitcoin ETF applications remains skeptical<\/strong>. This position is backed by compelling reasons, some of which have been elaborated upon by the independent experts at Better Markets in their<a href=\"https:\/\/bettermarkets.org\/newsroom\/sec-should-reject-bitcoin-etf-filings-because-they-will-expose-investors-to-fraud-manipulation-and-other-investor-harms\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> SEC Comment Letters<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">These letters, released on August 8, 2023, respond to proposed rule changes aimed at listing and trading shares in spot bitcoin-based exchange-traded products.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-148462\" src=\"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/American-SEC-1.jpg\" alt=\"Former SEC official: Bitcoin ETF approval won\u2019t happen any time soon\" width=\"825\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">One of the central concerns highlighted by Better Markets is the vulnerability of proposed spot bitcoin-based ETFs to manipulation due to factors such as artificially inflated trading volumes, market concentration, and reliance on a limited group to maintain Bitcoin&#8217;s network.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">According to Stark, these issues present significant obstacles to the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\">Potential Impact of a Republican President<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">John Reed Stark also delves into the evolving landscape of crypto regulation and its increasing partisanship within the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).<strong> He notes that crypto regulation was initially non-partisan, but it has become increasingly divided along party lines.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This divide emerged despite various political figures, including President Donald Trump, Secretary Hillary Clinton, and Congresswoman Maxine Waters, previously sharing concerns about crypto&#8217;s risks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Stark points out that this partisan divide intensified during the tenure of Republican-appointed SEC Chair <a href=\"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/sec-chairman-acknowledges-great-strides-made-towards-launching-a-bitcoin-etf-but-concerns-still-linger\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jay Clayton<\/a><\/strong>, who pursued stringent crypto regulation. This leads him to consider the possibility of regulatory shifts depending on the outcome of the 2024 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The former SEC official further suggests that<strong> if a Republican candidate were to win the presidency in 2024, the SEC&#8217;s approach to crypto regulation could undergo significant changes<\/strong>. A Republican-led administration might reduce enforcement efforts related to registration breaches and pivot towards focusing on fraud cases, he said.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">How, however, anticipates that a Republican-majority SEC might become more open to approving Bitcoin spot ETFs and other crypto-friendly regulatory actions.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Potential Influence of &#8220;Crypto Mom&#8221;<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Surprisingly, the X post also highlights the potential role of Hester Pierce, a notable SEC commissioner commonly referred to as <em>&#8220;Crypto Mom.&#8221;<\/em> <strong>If Pierce were to become acting SEC Chair, Stark believes that the agency&#8217;s crypto-related enforcement actions could slow down<\/strong>, given her history of dissenting against certain crypto-related SEC actions.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-148457 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/ETF.jpg\" alt=\"The Potential Influence of &quot;Crypto Mom&quot; on Bitcoin ETF's\" width=\"825\" height=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>&#8220;If @HesterPeirce becomes acting Chair of the SEC, given her lengthy track record of dissent and opposition to most crypto-related SEC actions, the world should expect that most U.S. SEC crypto-related enforcement and most crypto-related SEC disruption would grind to a screeching halt,&#8221;<\/em> he maintained.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">While the SEC&#8217;s current stance on a Bitcoin ETF appears cautious due to concerns about manipulation and market vulnerabilities,<strong> Stark raises the possibility of regulatory changes depending on future political outcomes.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In an August 15 statement on X (formerly Twitter), former SEC official John Reed Stark shed light on the likelihood of the SEC approving a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) soon. Stark&#8217;s insights provide a valuable perspective on this ongoing debate related to Bitcoin ETF within the crypto community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":148458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,70,74],"tags":[4602,4606,4816],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148432"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crypto-economy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}