U.S. SEC approves spot bitcoin exchange-traded products
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the listing and trading of eleven spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The eleven issuers are Bitwise, Grayscale, Hashdex, BlackRock, Valkyrie, BZX, Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and Franklin. Alongside the omnibus approval order, the SEC published a speech by Chair Gary Gensler that included a warning that “while we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin [ETFs] today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.” [Read more at the SEC]
Compromised SEC account posted fake bitcoin ETF tweet
The day prior to the approval announcement, in a case of “do as I say, not as I do”, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not employing two-factor authentication (TFA) on its X account, which was compromised to spread false bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) news, according to X (formerly Twitter). Apparently, the SEC did not have TFA enabled at the time the account was compromised, only a few months after SEC Chair Gary Gensler reminded everyone to use “strong passphrases or passwords and set up multifactor authentication“! The fake tweets caused bitcoin prices to immediately spike to $47,680 from the $46,800 level, and then fall as low as $45,400 as the tweets were found to be fake. The fake tweet announced the approval of 13 spot bitcoin ETFs, which was quickly denied by Gensler. [Read more at Decrypt]
FYI here are some of my upcoming speaking engagements:
– Digital Euro Conference 2024 (Frankfurt on February 29)[Register here and get a 20% discount with the Kiffmeister20 code]
*For those interested in intra-day updates, check out my searchable Diigo Fintech developments database, which is also a good place to go to query for past developments: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/ART.
Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor
Just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at chronicles@kiffmeister.com
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