Former SEC Chair: Institutional Investors Clearly Want Access to BTC, Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Inevitable

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s former chairman Jay Clayton has explained why he believes the approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) is inevitable. “It is clear that bitcoin is something that retail investors want access to, institutional investors want access to,” he stressed.

Former SEC Chief Says Approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs Inevitable

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Jay Clayton offered his perspectives on the likelihood of the securities regulator approving a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in an interview with CNBC on Friday. The interview followed the SEC delaying its decisions on several bitcoin ETF applications, including one proposed by Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager.

Without stating whether he would approve a spot Bitcoin ETF if he were still the chairman of the SEC, Clayton detailed:

It is clear that bitcoin is not a security. It is clear that bitcoin is something that retail investors want access to, institutional investors want access to.

“And importantly, some of our most trusted providers, who are fiduciaries or have duties of best interest, want to provide this product to the retail public,” the former SEC chairman added.

Regarding whether the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF, Clayton emphasized:

Approval is inevitable. The dichotomy between a futures product and cash product can’t go on forever.

So far, the securities regulator has not approved a spot bitcoin ETF even though it has approved some bitcoin futures ETFs.

Clayton explained that when he was the chairman of the SEC, the securities regulator was “uncertain whether cash trading was so easily manipulable that retail folks should not have access to it.” However, he stressed: “There are now large institutions with surveillance mechanisms who are coming in and saying: ‘No, that’s not the case.’ We can rely on the efficacy of the cash market to a sufficient extent where we believe it’s a legitimate product. That’s a shift.”

Earlier this week, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of Grayscale Investments against the SEC regarding the crypto asset manager’s proposal to convert its flagship bitcoin trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Do you agree with former SEC Chair Jay Clayton about institutional demand for bitcoin and the inevitable approval of spot bitcoin ETFs? Let us know in the comments section below.