The co-founder of Gemini, Cameron Winklevoss, said that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is a failed regulator. Winklevoss made the statement in a Twitter post he made on Sunday, July 2, 2023, a day that marked the 10th year since he and his twin, Tyler, filed for the first Bitcoin ETF with the SEC. In the post, Cameron Winklevoss described the refusal of the regulator to approve the Bitcoin ETF as an utter disaster for investors in the United States.
He wrote,
“Today marks 10 years since Tyler and I filed for the first spot Bitcoin ETF. The SEC’s refusal to approve these products for a decade has been a complete and utter disaster for US investors and demonstrates how the SEC is a failed regulator.”
“Protecting” investors from the best-performing asset
He said he came to the conclusion because the SEC, which claims that its objective is to protect investors, ended up “protecting” them from the best-performing asset of the last decade. He added that the US regulator instead directed the investing public to what he described as toxic products like Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which has astronomically high fees in its trades.
Winklevoss also accused the regulator of progressively pushing spot bitcoin activities offshore, where investors are faced with higher risks from unregulated and unlicensed companies.
Overstepping its statutory power
He laid the blame for pushing investors into the arms of FTX, which he described as the biggest fraud in modern history, on the SEC and called on the regulator to take an introspective view of its activities to understand its limits and make the necessary adjustments.
He wrote,
“Maybe the SEC will reflect on its dismal record and instead of overstepping its statutory power and trying to act like the gatekeeper of economic life, it will focus on fulfilling its mandate of investor protection, fostering fair and orderly markets, and facilitating capital formation. This would have led to much better outcomes for US investors.”
He further gave a thumbs up to the crypto activists and enthusiasts who are working hard to bring the spot Bitcoin ETF to life in the US.
