If the SEC doesn’t regulate crypto assets, a new shadow finance industry could emerge
PATRICK AUGUSTIN, 08 May 2021
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is dragging its feet in deciding whether it should approve the listing of a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) proposed by VanEck Associates Group. While it is good to be cautious, speed and political decisiveness are equally important. Otherwise we risk the rise of a digital shadow finance industry.
Cryptocurrencies are here to stay. The opportunities brought about by the digitization of assets and new financial technologies make it challenging to reverse the course of financial innovation.
CoinMarketCap, a price-tracking website for crypto assets, registered 4,501 cryptocurrencies in February 2021, up from 66 in 2013. The total market capitalization is estimated to be more than $2 trillion, with daily trading volumes north of $100 billion. The growth in cryptocurrency derivatives, financial securities that depend on the value of cryptocurrencies, largely outstrips that of spot markets.
