Will Peck, director of digital assets at exchange-traded fund provider WisdomTree, said that US regulators “will eventually approve a Bitcoin spot investment vehicle, but dealing with claims of market manipulation could be challenging.”
Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Converge22 conference held in San Francisco on Sept. 29, Peck said that WisdomTree would not follow Grayscale in taking legal action against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for denying its Bitcoin (BTC) ETF application. According to Peck, the company planned to “more productively engage” with the SEC without a lawsuit, but addressing some of the regulator’s reasons for rejecting Bitcoin Spot ETF applications could take time.
“We’re all watching this and seeing what’s going to happen,” Peck said. “The reasons that the SEC has given have really been around the potential for market manipulation – that Bitcoin trading does not occur in regulated environments […] There have been some questions in the past regarding custody, the ability of qualified custodians, be they banks or otherwise to be able to custody crypto assets on behalf of a registered company like this.”
He further added:
“I think the first one around market manipulation is like the hardest nut to crack, where there has been the biggest slowdown.”
Peck said the company would continue to talk with US regulators about an ETF offering. WisdomTree has several listed products tied to different cryptocurrencies in Europe, and has filed more than one application with the SEC for a Bitcoin spot ETF offering in the United States. The SEC rejected one of the company’s applications in December 2021, after which WisdomTree amended its filing to name US Bank as the crypto custodian of its Bitcoin trust.
While Grayscale’s legal action against the SEC over its ETF offering is ongoing, the firm’s legal director, Craig Salm, suggested it could take one to two years for a resolution. The US regulator began approving BTC derivatives-linked investment vehicles for the first time in October 2021, but has rejected applications for Bitcoin spot ETFs from 16 companies, often saying the investment vehicles were not “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.
Clarification: The information and/or opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views or editorial line of Cointelegraph. The information set forth herein should not be taken as financial advice or investment recommendation. All investment and commercial movement involve risks and it is the responsibility of each person to do their due research before making an investment decision.
Keep reading:
Investments in crypto assets are not regulated. They may not be suitable for retail investors and the full amount invested may be lost. The services or products offered are not aimed at or accessible to investors in Spain.