US regulators approve 11 bitcoin ETFs in ‘watershed’ moment that brings flagship cryptocurrency into the mainstream

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved 11 spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), including those from major issuers such as BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity and Invesco.

The approval is poised to revolutionize Bitcoin, giving institutional and retail investors access to the world’s largest cryptocurrency without having to own it directly.

All 11 approved ETFs will begin trading Thursday and could potentially find their way into mainstream portfolios, 401(k), IRAs and retirement plans.

Despite the approvals, the SEC indicated that it remained skeptical of the token, specifying that it “did not approve or endorse bitcoin” in making its decision.

The approvals are also a milestone because they mark the end of the agency’s more than decade-long objection to bitcoin ETFs – the first filing for which was in 2013.

Head of financial research at Standard Chartered Bank, Geoffrey Kendrick, described the approvals as a turning point for the cryptocurrency.

“We see this as an inflection point for normalizing participation in bitcoin by institutional money, and we expect approval to drive significant inflows and price appreciation for BTC,” Kendrick wrote in a research note this week.

Many bitcoin investors have been eagerly awaiting the SEC’s approval as it will likely result in an influx of investment in bitcoin-related assets, driving up their value.

In the past, regular retail investors who wanted to trade cryptocurrencies had to do so on crypto exchanges and incur significant transaction fees.

ETFs allow people to buy and sell shares in a fund that trades on traditional exchanges. The existence of bitcoin ETFs also makes the cryptocurrency more accessible to institutional investors.

Approval of the ETFs comes after a turbulent few days for bitcoin. Yields began rising on Monday as investors increasingly anticipated its approval.

Then on Tuesday, the SEC’s official account on X was hacked and a fake tweet was published claiming that the ETFs had been approved. Fifteen minutes later, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler published a tweet from his own account clarifying that the agency’s account had been hacked.