Trading volume on newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs soared past $5 billion Friday within the second full day since launch — whilst SEC Chairman Gary Gensler warned investors to think twice before pouring money into the crypto product.
After years of wrangling over their legality, the SEC approved 11 of the exchange-traded funds this week, including products offered by investment giants Blackrock, Fidelity and Grayscale.
The approvals were seen as a serious win for crypto touts who desired to open the asset to a wider pool of investors.
By buying into the ETFs, investors are acquiring stakes in funds that own bitcoin, quite than buying the tokens themselves.
Gensler indicated he stays highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday.
“Investors must be aware that the underlying asset is a highly speculative, volatile asset,” Gensler said. “Amongst its use cases is de facto for illicit activity – money laundering and sanctions and ransomware and the like.”
The SEC chair said his agency determined that approval of the ETFs was the “most sustainable path forward,” but nevertheless stressed that the SEC doesn’t approve or endorse “bitcoin itself” as an asset.
“It’s a speculative, volatile store of value. Is it getting used as a payment anywhere? Are we buying cups of coffee with it? Not likely. The one payment mechanism it’s getting used for in a primary sense is illicit activity,” Gensler added.
Trading activity topped $900 million in early trading Friday after the ETFs debuted with roughly $4.6 billion in volume a day earlier, The Block reported, citing Reuters and Yahoo Finance data.
Other Wall Street firms are taking a wait-and-see approach to the ETFs, which have been called a high-risk investment by critics aside from Gensler. Asset management giant Vanguard won’t offer the ETFs to their clients.
Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones and Northwestern Mutual also do not need immediate plans to supply the 11 approved ETFs, Fox Business reported.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission warned local investors that the US bitcoin ETFs may violate the its domestic laws on digital assets.
The value of bitcoin spiked above the $46,000 threshold following Wednesday’s ETF approvals — its highest level since December 2021.
The gains had pared somewhat by Friday, with bitcoin down nearly 6% to $44,502 as of the late morning, in response to Coinbase data.
Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, described the primary day of bitcoin ETF as a “huge success.”
“By all metrics: volume, # of trades, flows, media coverage it was smashing success, historical,” Balchunas wrote on X. “And that was DESPITE limited platform availability.”
Trading volume on newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs soared past $5 billion Friday within the second full day since launch — whilst SEC Chairman Gary Gensler warned investors to think twice before pouring money into the crypto product.
After years of wrangling over their legality, the SEC approved 11 of the exchange-traded funds this week, including products offered by investment giants Blackrock, Fidelity and Grayscale.
The approvals were seen as a serious win for crypto touts who desired to open the asset to a wider pool of investors.
By buying into the ETFs, investors are acquiring stakes in funds that own bitcoin, quite than buying the tokens themselves.
Gensler indicated he stays highly skeptical of cryptocurrencies during an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Friday.
“Investors must be aware that the underlying asset is a highly speculative, volatile asset,” Gensler said. “Amongst its use cases is de facto for illicit activity – money laundering and sanctions and ransomware and the like.”
The SEC chair said his agency determined that approval of the ETFs was the “most sustainable path forward,” but nevertheless stressed that the SEC doesn’t approve or endorse “bitcoin itself” as an asset.
“It’s a speculative, volatile store of value. Is it getting used as a payment anywhere? Are we buying cups of coffee with it? Not likely. The one payment mechanism it’s getting used for in a primary sense is illicit activity,” Gensler added.
Trading activity topped $900 million in early trading Friday after the ETFs debuted with roughly $4.6 billion in volume a day earlier, The Block reported, citing Reuters and Yahoo Finance data.
Other Wall Street firms are taking a wait-and-see approach to the ETFs, which have been called a high-risk investment by critics aside from Gensler. Asset management giant Vanguard won’t offer the ETFs to their clients.
Merrill Lynch, Edward Jones and Northwestern Mutual also do not need immediate plans to supply the 11 approved ETFs, Fox Business reported.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission warned local investors that the US bitcoin ETFs may violate the its domestic laws on digital assets.
The value of bitcoin spiked above the $46,000 threshold following Wednesday’s ETF approvals — its highest level since December 2021.
The gains had pared somewhat by Friday, with bitcoin down nearly 6% to $44,502 as of the late morning, in response to Coinbase data.
Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, described the primary day of bitcoin ETF as a “huge success.”
“By all metrics: volume, # of trades, flows, media coverage it was smashing success, historical,” Balchunas wrote on X. “And that was DESPITE limited platform availability.”
