WSJ editorial slams 'baffling' denials by SEC's Bitcoin ETF

The Editorial Board has drawn attention to a two-pronged approach employed by the SEC's Gensler, which makes approval virtually impossible. of a one-time Bitcoin product.

The Wall Street Journal's editorial board has spoken out against Gary Gensler's "legendary" resistance to approval of a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The hard-hitting opinion piece, published Wednesday, called out the Gensler-led Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for apparent inconsistencies in how the commission handles applications for exchange-traded products (ETPs) related to Bitcoin compared to more traditional assets and other commodities.

So far, Gensler's SEC has rejected all Bitcoin spot ETP proposals, including two last week from Grayscale and Bitwise, leading Grayscale to launch a lawsuit against the SEC.

The editorial board said the SEC heist was even more “baffling,” given that the agency had approved multiple Bitcoin futures ETPs in the past year.

These consistent rejections led SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce to declare Gensler's resistance to spotting crypto ETPs as "going legendary", questioning:

"When, if at all, does the growing maturity of Bitcoin spot markets and the success of similar products elsewhere tip the scales in favor of approval?"

The Editorial Board also drew attention to a two-pronged approach employed by Gensler, which makes it virtually impossible to endorse a one-time Bitcoin product.

This includes requiring ETP sponsors to demonstrate that a significant amount of Bitcoin trading takes place on a regulated market or that the underlying market must "have a unique resistance to manipulation above beyond the protections…of traditional markets”.

According to the WSJ, Gensler is "fully aware" that the first criterion simply cannot be met because almost...