Why Won't the SEC Approve a Bitcoin ETF? With Perianne Boring - WBD578
The Peter McCormack Show
Peter McCormack
4.7 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2022
⏱️ 104 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Perianne Boring is the Founder and CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce. In this interview, we discuss the history of Bitcoin spot ETF proposals, the numerous rejections and changing conditions for approval, and why the SEC won't approve a Bitcoin spot ETF.
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The first application for a Bitcoin spot ETF in the US was made by the Winklevoss brothers back in 2013. The SEC rejected this proposal in 2017. Since then the SEC has rejected applications from at least 16 different companies, some of whom have made multiple applications. The last rejection was in early October.
It's not that the SEC dislikes ETFs. There are over 2,500 ETFs in the US market with over $7.2 trillion AUM. Further, there is also strong demand in the market: over 99% of the 11,400 letters sent to the SEC in relation to Grayscale's ETC application were in support. In the meantime, Bitcoin spot ETFs are being approved across the world, most notably across the border in Canada.
The Chamber of Digital Commerce, the blockchain trade association, has assessed the history of Bitcoin spot ETF applications accounted for in a report. This outlines major inconsistencies in the way the SEC treats applications: denials have conditions applied for subsequent applications; these conditions are met, the new applications are denied; rinse and repeat.
In addition, in 2021 the SEC approved the first US Bitcoin futures ETF. Whilst the performance of the Bitcoin futures ETF has tracked the Bitcoin price reasonably closely, futures markets are by their very nature volatile as futures contracts can be unpredictable. So, it is potentially a less safe vehicle for investment.
The obvious question is, therefore: why won't the SEC approve a Bitcoin spot ETF? Perianne Boring, the CEO of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, is of the opinion the decision is political in nature. There is a wave of money waiting to invest in such an ETF, which would accelerate the adoption of Bitcoin. This is something many decision-makers are resistant to. What's clear is that with Grayscale suing the SEC the issue is coming to a head.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I think these policy fights for Bitcoin, this is the fight of my generation. |
| 0:08.0 | And I think it's absolutely important that we as Bitcoiners and people who care about this technology |
| 0:14.6 | understand these political fights, these legal fights because if we get the |
| 0:20.0 | policy wrong it can totally skew our future. |
| 0:24.0 | Hello there, how are you all doing? |
| 0:26.0 | I'm pretty good here. |
| 0:28.0 | Happy to be back in California. |
| 0:30.0 | Happy to be over here for the Pacific Bitcoin Conference. I think the Swan team has done an amazing job in this together. |
| 0:36.5 | I'm looking forward to being involved in all the proceedings. I'm going to be MCing part of the show and I'm also going to be moderating a couple of panels |
| 0:43.2 | so it's going to be very cool hopefully going to meet some of your Bitcoin is here too. |
| 0:46.2 | Anyway welcome to the What Bitcoin did podcast which is brought to you by Gemini the only place I'm using for buying Bitcoin I'm your your host Peter McCormack, and today I've got Perian Boring from the Chamber of Digital Commerce |
| 0:56.5 | on the show. |
| 0:57.5 | Now every week we get loads of emails from listeners asking us to cover certain topics. |
| 1:02.1 | And one of those that keeps coming up over and over again is, is will the US get a spot E.T.F. Now this is a question Perian has also been asking |
| 1:09.6 | and recently the Chamber of Digital Commerce released a paper looking at the history of spot ETF applications and why they have all been rejected and called into question some of the SEC's reasoning. |
| 1:21.0 | Now we read the paper, Danny and I looked through this and we decided to get |
| 1:24.3 | Perry out onto the show. I'm not entirely sure yet whether I want a spot ETF to happen. |
| 1:30.0 | Look, I know it would be great for my personal Bitcoin holdings, but I'm still not sure if this is something I really want to happen, but it was great to talk to Perryon about it anyway. |
| 1:38.0 | We'd love to get some of your feedback. You know you can drop me in email, as hello at what Bitcoin did Bitcoin did. It is me who reads them, it isn't Danny. |
| 1:44.6 | Some of you have been sending emails saying, hi Danny. |
| 1:46.9 | Yes, it's me who reads them. |
| 1:48.1 | I forward someone to Danny, I'll read them myself, but if you get in touch, |
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