VSn Tuesday, January 9, at 4 p.m., in Washington, the information fell on the official X account (formerly Twitter) of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the policeman of the American stock markets: “Today, the SEC approves the listing of bitcoin ETFs on registered securities markets. » The news was eagerly awaited by all digital currency aficionados. A great first which finally establishes investment in bitcoins and opens the doors to the most prestigious investment funds. The currency rate is racing, champagne is being prepared.
Patatras, ten minutes later, a first denial was provided by Gary Gensler, the president of the SEC, who was nevertheless cited, with his photo, in the previous tweet. He didn’t authorize anything at all. An hour later, the policeman of the American Stock Exchange regained control of his account and explained that he had been the victim of a hacker, who used a telephone number accessing the official account.
But the story does not end there. If the community of bitcoin fans is on edge, it is because it is awaiting a decision this week on an official request made by two players in the field, ARK Investment and 21Shares.
Stateless currency
The Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) is a fund whose value evolves by following an index constructed to follow a set of assets, such as the CAC 40, which follows the evolution of the 40 largest quotations on the Paris Stock Exchange. or its American equivalent, the Dow Jones. Here, the ETF tracks the value of bitcoin and can itself be listed on the markets like a regular security. So far, the SEC has refused to list a product built on an asset as volatile and risky as bitcoin. The founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces more than a hundred years in prison after the bankruptcy of his company, will not deny it.
Bitcoin, a stateless currency, was initially the money of Internet pirates and anarchists. A favorable decision from the SEC, accompanied by strict rules, would sign its adoption by market aristocrats like Fidelity or BlackRock, who have filed their own requests for authorization of a bitcoin ETF. A green light, quite likely, which smells of sulfur and would push finance into new, unknown lands.