BitGo CEO Says Political Pressure, Not the Law, Preventing Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval

The CEO of crypto custodian BitGo, Mike Belshe, is offering his opinion on why a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) has yet to be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

In a new interview on Kitco News, Belshe says politics are playing a major role as to why there’s no spot-based Bitcoin ETF existing in the US.

“It’s political. It’s not actually a matter of law. And that’s why it’s very difficult to predict whether an ETF is going to be approved…

That means there is political pressure that has nothing to do with what’s written or the regulation that’s written. And instead, it’s about people’s influence inside of Washington.

So right after Biden was elected, remember Senator [Elizabeth] Warren showed up and very publicly said ‘We’re going to unwind all that crypto stuff,’ and she encouraged Biden to do that.

She’s very much in the center of a lot of what’s going on with the SEC and also with the Biden administration. There’s political influence that’s happening. The laws didn’t change and yet the rules did.”

According to Belshe, “predictable and understandable” rules are necessary to maintain America’s economic competitiveness and the US dollar’s status as the global reserve currency.

“America should strive for legislation that sets up regulation. And the regulation should have rules that are clear and easy for everyone to understand.

And just because you have a new administration the rules don’t change without changing the text. That’s where we should be. I think Democrats, Republicans should all be able to get behind that. It’s a pretty simple concept.”

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