Bitcoin ETF Approved

Bitcoin ETFs Win SEC Approval, Bringing Easier Access to Biggest Cryptocurrency

The asset management industry has tried launching a spot bitcoin ETF for over a decade. Hopes are high they will lure more investors into crypto. U.S. regulators approved bitcoin ETFs, dramatically broadening access to the 15-year-old cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin's price topped 49k following the decision. Other cryptocurrencies rallied, too.

About a dozen companies, including BlackRock, Fidelity and Grayscale, sought to create bitcoin ETFs. In recent days they've announced – and, in some cases, slashed – the fees they plan to charge investors, suggesting a fierce battle to win investors' money is ahead. These are spot ETFs, meaning they hold bitcoin itself, versus the already-approved bitcoin futures ETFs, which hold derivatives contracts tied to BTC.

The green light from the SEC follows many years of delays and outright rejections of numerous attempts to launch spot bitcoin ETFs. It also comes just a few months after the agency was handed a resounding loss in court. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in August ruled the SEC was "arbitrary and capricious" in its decision to reject Grayscale's attempt to convert its roughly $26 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot ETF.