According to Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, there is a growing demand among Americans for safe and regulated cryptocurrency-based investment products. In a recent interview on Bloomberg TV, Grewal stated that approximately 20% of Americans have already engaged in buying or selling digital assets, and over 60% believe that the current financial system requires significant improvements.
Grewal emphasized that cryptocurrency is a vital part of what Americans envision for their financial future. He noted that the market is now striving to offer “safe, regulated products” to the American public, specifically referring to a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).
However, Grewal expressed concern that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is not acting in the best interest of the American people by obstructing access to these products. He stated, “When the U.S. government, the SEC in particular, stands in the way of that access, they are really standing in the way of what the American people have said, clearly, they want.”
Currently, the only Bitcoin ETFs traded in the U.S. are backed by Bitcoin futures rather than spot Bitcoin. However, optimism has been renewed about the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, especially following the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, filing an application to list such a product in June.
In related news, Coinbase recently filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from the SEC. Grewal commented on this, stating that while Coinbase welcomes dialogue with any regulator, the SEC’s lawsuit exceeds existing law and should therefore be dismissed.
