Jay Clayton, former chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), expressed his belief that the regulator will eventually approve a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Clayton's comments come after the SEC delayed decisions on several applications for such products.
Clayton, who served as SEC chairman from 2017 to 2020, told CNBC on September 1 that he still believes approval will happen at some point. He noted that the involvement of major financial institutions in the cryptocurrency space represents a shift in the way retail investors are exposed to Bitcoin.
Clayton said about the Bitcoin Spot ETF approval:
“Confirmation is inevitable. “The conflict between the futures product and the cash product cannot continue indefinitely.”
Clayton cited that the SEC has already approved several Bitcoin futures ETFs that track Bitcoin price through contracts traded on regulated exchanges, but has not yet approved any spot Bitcoin ETFs that would directly hold the underlying asset.
On August 31, the SEC announced that it had extended the review period for spot Bitcoin ETF applications from seven firms: BlackRock, WisdomTree, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, Bitwise, Valkyrie and Fidelity. The next deadline for major spot BTC applications under review is October 19.
*This is not investment advice.
