Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini states that the US SEC has been pushing investors into “toxic” and “unregulated” crypto products for the past ten years.
The Winklevoss twins criticised the U.S. SEC on July 2, noting that it had been 10 years since they originally applied to have their own exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved by the agency.
The SEC’s decade-long rejection to authorise these goods has been an absolute disaster for US investors and serves as evidence that the SEC is an ineffective regulator.
According to Winklevoss, the lack of a spot Bitcoin ETF has forced American investors into “bad instruments” like the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which trades at a “massive discount” to the price of Bitcoin and imposes “astronomical” costs.
As per YCharts, the discount between the net asset value of GBTC and the price of Bitcoin stands at 30%. According to the most recent July 2022 analysis by financial services company, the GBTC yearly cost is 2% as opposed to an average of 0.40%.
Additionally, Winklevoss thinks that because of the denial, American investors have begun to use “unregulated and unlicensed” offshore platforms, such as FTX, which he has referred to as “one of the biggest monetary frauds in recent history.”
He predicted that the SEC would take stock of its poor track record and, rather than going beyond its statutory authority and attempting to regulate all aspects of economic life, would concentrate on carrying out its purpose to safeguard investors.
Winklevoss’ remarks come at a time when a flurry of businesses, such as BlackRock, Fidelity, WisdomTree, Invesco, Valkyie, and ARK Invest, has recently submitted, renewed, or updated their files for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Some spot ETF filings apparently do not meet SEC requirements and are not “sufficiently transparent and complete.” After correcting the language in their submissions, the regulator ordered the fund managers to submit again.
In the meantime, Grayscale, the manager of the GBTC, and Gemini are engaged in a protracted legal mediation. Genesis is a division of the Digital Currency Group (DCG), which further owns Grayscale. Additionally, the exchange is in court facing SEC allegations.