Dennis M. Kelleher, Co-founder, President, and CEO, issued the following statement on the filing of Better Markets’ Supplemental Comment Letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in response “to multiple proposed rule changes filed by national securities exchanges seeking to list and trade shares in spot bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs).” Better Markets is a left-leaning advocacy group. Kelleher previously served as a member of the Biden-Harris Transition team, having earlier worked for Senate Democrats.
Kelleher said in the comment letter:
“The approval of spot bitcoin ETPs would be a historic mistake almost certainly leading to massive investor harm. The immense and unrelenting fraud and manipulation in the bitcoin market means that approving these products would expose millions of American investors and retirees to the very harms that the SEC exists to prevent.”
And:
“It would also undoubtedly lead the crypto industry to claim or imply that their products are now approved by the United States government. The crypto industry will almost certainly flood Americans with marketing propaganda suggesting that the SEC’s action legitimized crypto, giving false comfort to retail investors. The SEC must not facilitate the financial carnage that will follow if the crypto industry is allowed to repackage, add a veneer of legitimacy to, and widely disseminate a financial product that is little more than a socially worthless gambling chip.”
“Denying the proposed rule changes is required under the law. The statute clearly provides that the rules of an exchange must be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and protect investors and the public interest. The potential for fraud and manipulation in the spot bitcoin market is so great that an exchange cannot permit the listing and trading of a spot bitcoin ETP and still comply with those requirements. Moreover, the surveillance-sharing agreements proposed by the exchanges amount to window-dressing that cannot adequately detect or address the rampant fraud and manipulation in the bitcoin market.”
He claims it would be a “legal error” and “policy travesty” to approve the BTC ETF.
You can find the full comment letter here.