The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) slashed requirements yesterday afternoon for spot crypto ETF applicants, and analysts are predicting a wave of new listings.
Bloomberg’s senior exchange-traded fund (ETF) analyst predicted 100 new US crypto ETFs within 12 months, for example, after commissioners’ newly published Generic Listing Standards.
For context, there are currently fewer than 30 spot crypto ETFs trading on US exchanges and about 97 total crypto ETFs, including leveraged, inverse, and derivatives-based products.
“The last time they implemented a generic listings standards for ETF, launches tripled,” noted Bloomberg’s analyst.
“Get ready for a wave of spot crypto exchange-traded product launches in coming weeks,” agreed another.
Galaxy Research believes there are 14 digital assets that will quickly qualify for expedited listings of new spot crypto ETPs: BTC, ETH, XRP, SOL, BCH, ADA, DOGE, LTC, LINK, XLM, AVAX, SHIB, DOT, and HBAR.
Also yesterday, the SEC approved the listing of the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund and evening-settled options on the CBOE Bitcoin US ETF Index and Mini-CBOE Bitcoin US ETF Index.
Read more: More bitcoin ETFs offer yield — but where is it coming from?
Paul Atkins’ new day at the SEC
Commissioners’ reduced requirements for listing a spot crypto ETF in addition to these approvals demonstrate Paul Atkins’ commitment to Trump’s executive order to make the US the “crypto capital of the world.”
Atkins disagrees entirely with the unambiguous determinations of his SEC Chair predecessors Jay Clayton and Gary Gensler. Clayton said, “I believe every ICO I have seen is a security,” and Gensler said, “I find myself agreeing with Chairman Clayton.”
Even the founder of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement said, “Every single ICO I ever saw was unlawful on multiple levels.”
Well, Atkins somehow believes that “most crypto tokens are not securities,” because “it is a new day at the SEC.”
In fact, adding “exemptions and safe harbors” and amending rules to accommodate crypto promoters are on his agenda.
The SEC’s new generic listing standards that could double the number of crypto ETFs over the next 12 months is precisely in line with Atkins’ “new day at the SEC” initiative.