Dennis M. Kelleher, co-founder and CEO of Better Markets, wants the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reject all applications for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs).
In a Jan. 5 letter to the SEC, Kelleher argued that the approval would expose millions of American investors to fraud and manipulation, which the SEC is mandated to prevent, leading to “massive investor harm.”
He expressed his fears in the context of a recent report by blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer that revealed more than 324,000 crypto users fell prey to fraud in 2023, resulting in a loss of around $295 million.
“It would expose countless hardworking Americans to the risks inherent in investing in bitcoin. Those risks have not only been obvious over the last three years but have materialized repeatedly, resulting in billions of dollars of losses.”
Dennis Kelleher, Better Markets CEO
Moreover, the Better Markets chief executive, who has a distinguished career in law, policy, and advocacy, posited that the law mandates the rules of exchange to prevent fraudulent and manipulative practices, which, he asserted, the crypto industry is rife with.
Kelleher also suggested that the proposed rule changes would give the crypto industry a veneer of legitimacy, which he feels it does not deserve.
In his opinion, current surveillance-sharing agreements between exchanges are merely superficial and have so far failed to address the rampant fraud and manipulation in the crypto market.
Crypto community responds to Better Markets
Reactions to Kelleher’s warnings have been largely negative, with some key figures in the crypto industry dismissing his concerns.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart took to X, arguing that it would be a “criminal move” to dismiss the applications given the time and effor
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Author: Julius Mutunkei
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