The U.S. officially allows the Bitcoin ETF fund to go into operation.

(DNTO) - The Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) will enable investors to trade this cryptocurrency like stocks.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) completed a vote on Thursday morning (January 11), allowing investors to start trading Bitcoin as easily as stocks or other mutual funds, a milestone event in the history of the cryptocurrency industry.
The SEC's decision paves the way for the first Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) in the U.S. holding actual Bitcoin to be publicly traded. Previously, investors wanting to buy or sell cryptocurrencies or digital assets had to go through specialized exchanges, incurring high transaction fees and fees for crypto price tracking tools.
This has been an eagerly anticipated event in the crypto investment community for several months. The excitement pushed the price of Bitcoin to nearly $46,000 per bitcoin, an increase of $17,000 compared to the same period in 2023, a record high in the past two years.
Now, more than 11 asset managers, including BlackRock, Fidelity Investment, ARK Investment Management, Invesco, WisdomTree, Bitwise Asset Management, Valkyrie, and Grayscale Investments, have been approved. The new ETF, known as "spot-bitcoin," is set to officially start trading on the next day.
Samir Kerbage, Chief Investment Officer of the Bitcoin ETF issuer Hashdex, declared, "Today is an extremely important day in the history of digital assets."
However, the situation for other digital assets is not uniform after the SEC's decision. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, surged nearly 10%. Global Coin, the currency issued by the world's largest crypto exchange Coinbase, decreased by 0.46%. Coinbase stock, which usually follows Bitcoin's price, declined by 1.4%. Coinbase is noted as one of the entities supervising 8 out of the 11 approved ETF applications, but they are also facing multiple scandals.
The SEC had previously rejected ETF registration for Bitcoin, citing the market's sensitivity to fraud and manipulation. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler believes that additional regulations and investor protection measures are needed before retail investors can access the cryptocurrency market. However, a favorable ruling supporting crypto asset manager Grayscale has influenced the SEC's decision.
Nevertheless, Gary Gensler stated that the SEC does not fully trust Bitcoin and advises investors to be cautious with Bitcoin or assets closely tied to it.
The new Bitcoin ETF is predicted to be the focal point of fierce competition among asset managers. Some asset management companies choose to compete on fees, while others use marketing. The transaction fees for Bitcoin ETFs will be very low, ranging from zero for the first six months to 1.5% of the value.
In the future, financial advisors may begin recommending their clients to invest in Bitcoin. Investing in an ETF is much easier than dealing with Bitcoin directly, which faces numerous legal barriers.
Many express concerns that the SEC's decision may set a precedent for various other digital assets seeking to become ETFs, making it more challenging to protect investor rights. Several asset management companies, including BlackRock, ARK, VanEck, and Grayscale, have proposed ETFs for Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency. The deadline for the SEC to decide on the ETF for Ether is in May.
"This event will open the floodgates for all types of cryptocurrencies along with their fraud issues," according to Dennis Kelleher, the director of Better Markets, an organization advocating for stricter financial regulations.