Respected Wall Street Journal reporter Paul Vigna has commented on the recent news surrounding the Bitcoin ETF proposals’ recent rejections. He states that the financial regulator’s concerns are “very valid.”
Vigna: “Good Governments” No Longer Want to Ban Crypto
Paul Vigna appeared on CNBC earlier today. He discussed the future of the number one cryptocurrency, as well as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent rejections of various ETFs proposed to them this year.
Vigna stated that the concerns of the regulators are “very valid.” He expanded on this by highlighting the irony of a market that prides itself on a transparent, distributed ledger yet has such a lack of transparency amongst the dealings of exchanges. He then contrasted the crypto markets with traditional capital markets, stating that there is much more oversight throughout the entire established industry:
“The [traditional] exchanges themselves do a lot of watching what’s going on on their exchanges.”
The WSJ reporter went on to remind people that even in the well-regulated existing markets, people still try to “game” an advantage. Since there is a lack of oversight in the crypto markets, the problem is much greater there, he stated.
Vigna then addressed one of the SEC’s major concerns about a Bitcoin ETF – market manipulation:
“Is there market manipulation in Bitcoin and in other cryptocurrencies? Absolutely. How much of it there is? We don’t exactly know.”
He stated that the main issue for the SEC is that they have no idea what exactly is going on and therefore they are reluctant “to give a blessing to these ETFs.”
If what Vigna is saying carries weight, the SEC will be unlikely to approve the much-anticipated VanEck ETF proposal next month. Many in the Bitcoin community feel strongly that a green light from the financial regulators would trigger the next bull market for the digital asset. However, since market manipulation seems unlikely to vanish any time soon, the chances of an approval look increasingly slim.
The conversation between Vigna and the presenters then focused on the future of Bitcoin and the governments of the world’s approach to it:
“The whole idea that existed a few years ago that governments are never going to approve this, that they’re never going to let this exist, they’re going to try and squash it, I don’t think that’s relevant anymore.”
Vigna then claimed that there does not seem to be much chance of “good governments” trying to outright ban Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies nowadays. Instead, they were trying to work out ways to regulate the market to allow it to provide good for people in as risk-free way as possible.
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