Mike Novogratz says the approval of the Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) would equate to a “seal of approval” for Bitcoin from the US government and securities regulator.
On July 12th interview The founder of crypto investment firm Galaxy Digital spoke with Bloomberg TV about the multiple filings of a Bitcoin ETF before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including one from $10 trillion asset manager BlackRock.
“What I think is that BlackRock and Invesco (and) Group ETF Providers are a real signal that adoption is coming,” Novogratz said.
(embed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_3CvNhs2FE (/embed)
He added that many are “worried” about investing in cryptocurrencies and that approval of a Bitcoin instant ETF would be an “easy first step” for most people to start investing in the asset.
“I think if that happens it is the seal of approval from the SEC and the US government.”
Novogratz explained that there is a “giant infrastructure” in place for ETFs. Along with BlackRock, proposed ETFs from Valkyrie, Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree and Fidelity, and a mutual fund from ARK Invest and 21Shares are also lined up for approval. Many of those, Novogratz believes, will likely end up agreeing.
“The SEC isn’t going to approve one, so you’re going to have these giant sales teams giving access to people who didn’t have access before.”
SEC chief Gary Gensler has previously claimed that “everything other than Bitcoin” falls under his agency’s purview and that other crypto projects “are securities” since there are usually well-known developers who are expected to make profits based on their work.
Related: Don’t be naive – BlackRock’s ETF will not be bullish for bitcoin
Novogratz was evasive when asked about his thoughts on whether Galaxy and Invesco’s Bitcoin ETF will be able to list before the end of the year.
“This SEC has been really stubborn and tough on crypto,” he said.
“Nobody of interest got the listing process. We’re in the process and it’s been a long and frustrating process. I’ll leave it at that,” he added.
“I think we will probably need to either change his mind at the SEC or change management to see real progress on crypto regulation here in the US.”
Novogratz predicted that the bitcoin price would end the year at a high. “If you take the top off,” he said, “we’ll have a good leg.”
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