Appearing on Benzinga’s PreMarket Prep on Monday, Joe Saluzzi, co-founder and co-head of Themis Trading, said he was a fan of Gary Gensler until the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman “caved” on the recent approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Why Gensler Should Have “Held The Line,” According to Saluzzi
The co-author of “Broken Markets” said Gensler and SEC “proposed too much” and ran “into the crypto machine” ready to fight his regulation proposals in the courts. This overwhelmed the agency, with Gensler eventually having to yield on the approvals of the ETFs – “he caved on that” and “he should’ve held the line,” Saluzzi said.
In his opinion, cryptocurrency owners will be the “bag holders,” with Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) sliding 15% from its approval highs. “The BlackRocks of the world are going to make a ton of money, they’re out there laughing,” according to Saluzzi.
The SEC’s Biggest Mistake
“The biggest mistake they [SEC] made was approving the Bitcoin futures ETF, that set the precedent for this,” Saluzzi added.
This aspect becomes particularly noteworthy given that the SEC is soon to make a comparable decision regarding the approval of spot Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH) ETFs. The legal context for these Ethereum ETFs is somewhat parallel, considering that Ethereum futures ETFs have already received approval for trading.
Yet, in the press release that accompanied the approval of the Bitcoin ETF, Gensler emphasized that the decision “is not an endorsement” of Bitcoin, highlighting Bitcoin’s unique status as a digital commodity—a distinction Gensler has not made for Ethereum.
Why Saluzzi Backs Away From Crypto ETFs
“I don’t have a problem with crypto,” Saluzzi said, but the ETF “wrapper” gives Bitcoin a “seal of approval” that is, in his opinion, unwarranted.
Cryptocurrency markets still don’t have the necessary “surveillance” in place, something the SEC required but still “caved on,” Saluzzi added.
The approval opens the proverbial Pandora’s Box of cryptocurrency-related financial products, which already started with a BlackRock application for options trading on its iShares Bitcoin Trust (NASDAQ: IBIT) shares.
“When will the 5X Dogecoin ETF be put in a long-term portfolio?,” Saluzzi asked half-jokingly.
Echoing Jamie Dimon’s preference for stocks over cryptocurrencies, Saluzzi…
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