'No Reason' for SEC to Deny Bitcoin ETF, Says Hester Peirce

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce added another jolt of liveliness to the ever-frenzied discourse surrounding the potential of a spot Bitcoin ETF, expressing in a recent interview her belief that the SEC shouldn’t stand in the way of the ETF’s approval. 

“I think I’ve been very transparent that I’ve thought for many years now, that there is no reason for us to stand in the way of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded product,” Peirce said, referencing the SEC, during a Bloomberg interview Tuesday.  

Though the interview originally aired yesterday, a clip of Peirce discussing spot Bitcoin ETFs during the segment re-circulated this afternoon on Twitter; within minutes of those tweets, Bitcoin jumped over 3%, to $37,718 at writing, according to CoinGecko. 

In recent weeks, rumors regarding the likelihood of a spot Bitcoin ETF’s imminent approval by the SEC have pumped Bitcoin’s price to yearly highs. While JP Morgan predicted last month that the Bitcoin-backed mainstream financial product could receive approval by Christmas, the SEC opted last week to punt decisions regarding several Bitcoin ETF applications into the new year. 

A Bitcoin ETF is an investment product that would allow buyers to gain exposure to the digital asset without the need to buy or hold coins directly. Crypto-native asset managers have been trying for the last decade to get one approved by the SEC without any luck. The SEC has rejected every application so far, mostly citing the potential for market manipulation in crypto as the primary reason. But things changed when BlackRock entered the picture.

Last June, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, applied for a Bitcoin ETF—and there have been subtle signs since then that the Wall Street titan will eventually get its way.

Market analysts have long predicted a spot Bitcoin ETF could explode Wall Street’s interest in the cryptocurrency. Blockchain analysts at CryptoQuant have previously said the product could lead to a $1 trillion boost for Bitcoin and other digital assets.

Though Peirce is one of five commissioners at the SEC who will decide the fate of every pending Bitcoin ETF application, she is in the Republican minority on the Commission, and has long butted heads with the SEC’s Democratic Chair, Gary Gensler, regarding crypto regulation. 

Peirce has vocally denounced most of the SEC’s recent actions against crypto companies, and has repeatedly expressed her enthusiasm for a spot Bitcoin ETF, going back as far as 2018. 

So while Peirce’s most recent statements may not indicate any further likelihood that a Bitcoin ETF will soon be approved by the SEC, the impact any rumors related to the subject are having on the crypto market indicates the potential value of such an approval.