KEY POINTS
- Michael Sonnenshein has urged the SEC to approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs
- "I think that the SEC should and does, in fact, want to create an even playing field," the CEO said
- Bitcoin broke through the $43,000 price level, trading in the green zone at $43,036.39 Tuesday morning
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein has urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to allow multiple BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at once as it could open the floodgates by "unlocking" around "$30 trillion worth of advised wealth."
Grayscale is one of the companies that filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF application. As the final deadline for the SEC to decide on these applications draws near, the hype surrounding the first-ever crypto investment vehicle in the U.S. continues to surge.
But what is the hype all about and what can it do to the broader cryptocurrency industry?
Sonnenshein, in an interview, talked about the importance of launching a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S., highlighting the magnitude of wealth held within advised assets and the significant opportunity a regulated BTC ETF could offer to tap into these vast resources.
"When we look ahead to the hopeful approval for spot Bitcoin ETFs, it really is going to unlock the opportunity to a part of the investment community that for better or worse has been locked out for the opportunity to participate in having Bitcoin exposure in their portfolio," the Grayscale CEO said. "We're really talking about the advised market here in the U.S. Which is today, about $30 trillion worth of advised wealth that we hope the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs, the up-listing of GBTC, will allow for that opportunity and for those investors to partake in it as well."
[CNBC Television] There's a lot of market optimism for Bitcoin into next year, says Grayscale CEO
— Minutes Finance (@MinutesFinance) December 18, 2023
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein joins 'Squawk Box' to discuss the lobbying efforts in the cryptocurrency space, when Bitcoin's price action will focus on an ETF, and more. pic.twitter.com/FmCmRvpDY0
Like what ARK's Cathie Wood previously predicted, Sonnenshein wants the major Wall Street regulator to approve multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs at once to "even the playing field."
"I think that the SEC should and does, in fact, want to create an even playing field," he said in another interview Monday. "We've publicly been advocates of the fact that when the commission is ready to give the requisite approvals for spot products to come to market, that it should be done all at once — the issuers who are operationally ready to launch their products should come out the gate all at once."
Bitcoin broke through the $43,000 price level and was trading in the green zone at $43,036.39 as of 5:14 a.m. ET on Tuesday, with the 24-hour trading volume up by 30.01% at $5.34 billion. The latest price action represents a 5.32% increase in its value in the past 24 hours and a 2.58% gain over the last seven days.
Data from CoinMarketCap shows Bitcoin's currency circulating supply stands at 19.57 million BTC and its market cap is at $843.37 billion.
