Free Republic

On February 14, 2024, a significant development unfolded in the financial regulatory landscape as four leading financial associations—the Bank Policy Institute (BPI), the American Bankers Association (ABA), the Financial Services Forum (the Forum), and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA)—jointly addressed a letter to Gary Gensler, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This letter represents a unified request from these influential bodies for the SEC to consider targeted modifications to Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121), a directive that has significantly impacted U.S. banking organizations’ ability to engage with digital assets since its issuance...

ProShares' bitcoin futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) listed on the New York Stock Exchange today, and it was welcomed with explosive interest. "It absolutely obliterated," said James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst. At the time of writing, volumes for the so-called ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) stood near $1 billion after its inaugural trading day. At last check, volumes stood at $999.473 million. Many expected a massive launch, but Seyffart told the Block that the volumes blew away expectations. Bloomberg Intelligence was expecting the product to top the launch of the VanEck Social Sentiment ETF ($BUZZ), according to Seyffart. $BUZZ did...