Better Markets CEO Dennis M. Kelleher doubled down on his criticism of the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
What Happened: Only days after warning that regulatory approval of Bitcoin ETFs would be an “absolutely criminal move,” Kelleher said it would “unleash crypto predators on tens of millions of investors and retirees.”
Kellerher’s statement reaffirms his views that Bitcoin is a “worthless, volatile, and fraud-filled financial product” and “the preferred product of speculators, gamblers, predators, and criminals.”
It will “continue to be cesspools of fraud, manipulation, and criminality” because “there is and will be no effective cop on the Bitcoin beat.”
Kelleher warns that the CFTC is understaffed and ill-equipped to effectively regulate crypto. He also forecasts this decision to “dramatically increase the risk of systemic crashes and bailouts.”
The Better Markets CEO concludes that it “will almost certainly lead to a crypto bust with likely crashes, contagion and worse.”
Why It Matters: Kelleher joins the cohort of famous ETF critics, such as SEC Chair Gary Gensler himself. Although his agency approved the Bitcoin ETF, he stressed in the accompanying press release that it “did not approve or endorse Bitcoin.”
JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon has been striking a very similar note, saying Bitcoin has “no value” and listed “sex trafficking, tax avoidance, anti-money laundering, terrorism financing” as its use cases.
Finally, the SEC Commissioners themselves were split on Bitcoin, with Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw highlighting concerns about “rampant fraud and manipulation” in the global spot market in her statement on the approval.
This underscores the fact that approval did not come lightly, nor does it automatically open the doors for further digital asset ETFs, such as Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH). Evidence of that is Gensler’s statement that the decision “is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin.”
What’s Next: With digital asset companies like Circle joining the ranks of Wall Street, it will be interesting to observe whether critical voices will continue…
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