SEC Chair gives another warning as decision on spot Bitcoin ETF approaches

• SEC Chairman took to X the second time within the past 24 hours to warn of the dangers of the crypto market
• The warning comes right when the market expects multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs to start trading by the end of this week

US Securities and Exchanges (SEC) Chairman – Gary Gensler seems to be having a meltdown on X. This comes right as the market is abuzz about the soon-approaching approval of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs. Taking matters to X for a second time this week, Gensler stated,

“If you’re considering an investment involving crypto assets, be cautious. Crypto asset securities may be marketed as new opportunities but there are serious risks involved.”

Notably, the second warning comes within less than 24 hours from the first warning. In the first warning, put out on January 8th, Chairman Gensler warned that the “crypto asset investments/ services” offering might not comply with securities laws.

He added that crypto asset investments might be “exceptionally risky & often volatile”. Additionally, the Chairman warned that fraudsters continued to exploit and lure investors through various schemes.

Warning comes on the eve of a likely spot Bitcoin ETF approval

Interestingly, the back-to-back warning comes days before the decision day for spot Bitcoin ETF applications. During a CNBC interview, VanEck CEO – Jan van Eck stated approval for spot Bitcoin ETF was expected to come by the end of Wednesday i.e., January 10th. Additionally, the CEO expects the products to start trading in the market by Thursday morning.

Notably, van Eck expects the SEC to approve 10 ETFs filed by multiple companies, with Blackrock – the investment management giant – being one of them. And, this approval is speculated to bring in billions of dollars within the first few months of listing.

Read Bitcoin’s [BTC] Price Prediction 2024-2025

Amidst a confident sentiment of approval, top spot Bitcoin ETF contenders have publicised the fee for their product in the latest amended applications. Bitwise currently has the lowest fees, set at 0.20%. Notably, this fees will be applied after the first six months of listing or until the fund has $1 billion in assets. Before that, there would be no fees on its spot BTC ETF.

Regardless of long term plans, the intensity of this bitcoin ETF bidding war is telling me the issuers believe that the winner’s low fees will be compensated by HUGE $$ inflows. pic.twitter.com/tzEmHzPsWU

— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) January 9, 2024

Spot BTC ETF fees | Source: X

Blackrock, on the other hand, has set a fee of 0.2% for the first 12 months or till the fund reaches $5 billion in assets. Post this, the fees will increase to 0.3%. Most other companies are also offering little to no fees on their BTC products for the first few months or until the product has reached a set benchmark of assets.