Coinbase confident of SEC green light for bitcoin ETF soon, says legal chief
Coinbase expects SEC to approve bitcoin ETF soon, says legal chief Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, is optimistic that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will soon approve a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to its chief legal officer, Paul Grewal.
In an interview with CNBC, Grewal said that Coinbase is hopeful that the SEC will grant the applications for bitcoin ETFs, as they are consistent with the law and the regulator’s mandate. He added that the SEC’s recent defeat in court, where it failed to block Grayscale from converting its GBTC bitcoin fund into an ETF, was a positive sign for the industry.
“I think that, after the U.S. Court of Appeals made clear that the SEC could not reject these applications on an arbitrary or capricious basis, we’re going to see the commission fulfill its responsibilities. I’m quite confident of that,” Grewal said.
He did not give a specific timeline for when he expects the SEC to approve a bitcoin ETF, but said that it could happen in the near future. He also said that Coinbase is working with some of the firms that have submitted proposals for bitcoin ETFs, such as Fidelity and WisdomTree.
A bitcoin ETF would allow investors to buy and sell shares of a fund that tracks the price of bitcoin, without having to deal with the complexities and risks of owning and storing the cryptocurrency directly. It would also provide more liquidity and transparency to the market, as well as lower fees and taxes.
