With Bitcoin climbing inFriday’s market, (a lot!) let’s look at some of the surrounding regulatory context.
Agencies like the SEC are still very much in play when it comes to treating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as assets.
There’s a lot that’s up in the air and still to be settled.
In that context, we have new ideas reported today from Former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Gary Gensler speaking at the MIT Business of Blockchain event yesterday.
Speaking about the perspective on such services and products as custody and bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Gensler argued that for the market to prosper and potentially grow, investors should know that they have both investor and consumer protection embodied in the law in case of market manipulation or losing of private keys, among other issues,” Ana Alexandre reports at Cointelegraph today.
Gensler’s essential argument is that better regulation will protect consumers and lead to more adoption of blockchain cryptocurrencies.
For example, Gensler references a Bitcoin ETF, noting that if consumers can be reasonably sure that these markets are sufficiently overseen, and that the chances of manipulation are low, these types of vehicles will spur greater buy-in by both individuals and institutions.
The flip side of the argument seems to be that immature and insufficiently regulated markets are being held back.
Investors – take this with a grain of salt, but factor it into your portfolio strategy and buying philosophy.
If you believe, as Gensler does, that markets are held back by lack of concrete regulatory context, you may also feel, as many analysts do right now, that Bitcoin is going to flourish in the years ahead.
That may be a basis for a buy-and-hold strategy or – you may want to do additional research and watch markets according to how regulators are acting. We seek to bring you this kind of news to inform you about factors that might affect your ability to invest in cryptocurrencies or secondary blockchain firms – because these markets are moving fast, because they are volatile, and because they require a goodly helping of due diligence!
