Just-In: Ex CFTC Chair says Bitcoin ETF would be good for investors and regulators

Timothy Massad, former chairman of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has become the latest US regulatory executive to advocate for a Bitcoin ETF.

Mossad said a Bitcoin ETF would be good for the transparency and integrity of the market. He published an opinion piece talking about the hype and regulatory hurdles around a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. He wrote,

“Although it would be best to see such ETFs approved only after Congress has strengthened crypto regulation generally, the likelihood of that happening shortly is low. The next best thing, then, is for the SEC to approve an ETF conditionally in a way that would enhance transparency and integrity in the industry.”

Mossad suggested the SEC should take a conditional approach towards Bitcoin ETF until clear regulations are passed by Congress. Former CFTC chief’s comment comes amid growing calls for stricter measures on the crypto market and implementation of investor protection laws by the SEC chief Gary Gensler.

Before Mossad, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce had also called out SEC for the continuous delays in approval for a Bitcoin ETF. Peirce had said that a Bitcoin ETF is long overdue now and also acknowledged that the crypto market has matured enough for approval. She had said,

“I thought that if we had applied our standards as we have applied them to other products, we would already have approved one or more of them. With each passing day, the rationale that we have used in the past for not approving seems to grow weaker.”

Will SEC approve the first Bitcoin ETF amid growing demand?

The US government is increasingly looking to regulate the crypto market and seems more serious about it than ever before. Recently, the FinCEN also appointed its first-ever crypto chief advisor in the form of Michele Korver.

More than 8 Bitcoin ETF proposals are pending before the SEC out of which it has already postponed its decision on two. Many were hopeful that the growing demand and adoption of BTC this bull season along with a new SEC chair would make way for the first Bitcoin ETF in the US, however, SEC left Bitcoin out of its 2021 regulatory agenda suggesting it might not be a priority in the short term.