US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler on Monday posted some words of wisdom warning about the risks associated with digital assets, saying that “those offering crypto asset investments/services may not be complying w/ applicable law, including federal securities laws,” and that crypto assets “can be exceptionally risky” and “are often volatile.”
Gensler has always been critical of crypto, and while he doesn’t mention it, the timing of his posts comes as the SEC is expected to issue the long-awaited spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval.
“Fraudsters continue to exploit the rising popularity of crypto assets to lure retail investors into scams. These investments continue to be replete w/ fraud- bogus coin offerings, Ponzi & pyramid schemes, & outright theft where a project promoter disappears w/ investors’ money,” Genslar warned.
The SEC only has until January 10 to respond to the spot BTC ETF petition from ARK Invest and 21Shares. There’s speculation that instead of responding to just this application, the regulator will approve a batch of filings to avoid favoring just one issuer.
Cointelegraph reports that Gensler’s posts come shortly after 19b-4 amendments for spot BTC ETF applications have been filed by asset managers BlackRock, Valkyrie, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, VanEck and WisdomTree.
Gensler’s posts also come after an 11-page anti-crypto letter was released by the group Better Markets, which has been linked to both Gensler and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who’s also a known crypto critic.
The letter, which was addressed to SEC Secretary Vanessa Countryman, warns that approving the BTC ETF would be a “grave if not historic mistake” and that it would expose investors “to the very harms that the SEC exists to prevent.”
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