A newly appointed member of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) Elad Roisman might be the last hope for the approval of a bitcoin ETF.
The SEC which is responsible for regulating the securities industry and making rules to guide the operations of securities companies has already rejected Nine applications for a bitcoin ETF.
However, with the coming of Roisman, the hope of getting an approval for an ETF may be around the corner as he is an ardent supporter of cryptocurrencies and will be the second pro cryptocurrency commissioner in the commission.
Roisman who has been on the senate committee on banking for several years while speaking during a senate hearing of the committee prior to his appointment admonished SEC to treat the matter of cryptocurrency regulation with fairness in accordance with the mission of the commission.
He said:
“The SEC must examine and re-examine its rules, regulations, and guidelines to ensure that they are still working as intended to accomplish the SEC’s mission. This is most recently manifested in areas such as data protection and cybersecurity as well as the emergence of new investments and technologies such as initial coin offerings and blockchain.”
Hester Peirce, another long term supporter of the move for a bitcoin ETF has battled with the commission over the several rejections of ETF applications especially the Winklevoss ETF in July. Pierce argued that the power of the commission to regulate securities market is limited but the commission has gone beyond its jurisdiction in rejecting the application.
In her words, Pierce said:
“The Commission’s mission historically has been, and should continue to be, to ensure that investors have the information they need to make intelligent investment decisions and that the rules of the exchange are designed to provide transparency and prevent manipulation as market participants interact with each other,” she remarked.”
The most recent application for an ETF is the one submitted by SolidX/VanEck in support of physical bitcoin which has not enjoyed much attention because the applicants do not “look the part”.
However, there are indications that the application may be considered and approved by next year if it gets enough support.
Roisman’s appointment has come at the right time considering the hurdles the Crypto industry has faced concerning the approval of an ETF and with two commissioners backing the application, the industry may soon heave a sigh of relief as it is hopeful that they will support the application and facilitate the approval of the ETF for physical bitcoin.
