Gary Gensler, the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), reiterated on Monday that Bitcoin is the only crypto that qualifies as a commodity. Speaking to Jim Cramer during CNBC’s Squawk Box on Monday, June 27, Gensler said that many cryptocurrencies have properties of a security and that Bitcoin is the only one he wants to publicly qualify as a commodity.
Grayscale spotlights bitcoin ETF
`Gensler’s statements also revived the debate surrounding the US spot Bitcoin ETF. James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, says the statements are positive for Bitcoin but probably not enough for the approval of the Grayscale spot Bitcoin ETF.
This isn't new from Gensler, but definitely positive IMO. Unfortunately this isn't enough for approval of $GBTC's conversion into a spot #Bitcoin ETF. Odds of SEC approval next week (or this week) are near zero in our opinion. https://t.co/mvRnkajGdd
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) June 27, 2022
The deadline for the SEC to respond to Grayscale’s application is next week. There is a small chance that they will get the green light, but most experts do not expect much of it after all the rejections in recent years. Eric Balchunas of Bloomberg made similar remarks. Balchunas indicates Grayscale has about a 0.5 percent chance of getting the SEC’s approval.
Positive for bitcoin
It is striking that Gary Gensler did not mention Ethereum in his statement. This immediately sparked rumours on Twitter that Ethereum may be classified as a security in the future. This will probably have a significant impact on its price, as it means that stock exchanges will not be able to list Ethereum just like that. If all other cryptocurrencies except Bitcoin are classified as securities, this could have a major impact on the market.
Any thoughts on why Gensler didn't mention Ethereum as a commodity today? https://t.co/GjN5so63O3 #ethereum
— swankyfinance.eth (@swankyfinance) June 28, 2022
However, this is positive for Bitcoin as it gives investors certainty about the status of the market’s largest currency. The Bitcoin exchange rate did not react positively to Gensler’s statements; however, as for the past 24 hours, Bitcoin has recorded a minus of 1.73 percent. The price currently stands at 20,852 dollars while dangling just above the magic limit of 20,000 dollars.
