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The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the first spot bitcoin exchange traded funds in a watershed moment that cryptocurrency enthusiasts are betting will draw new retail and institutional investors into the market.
美国证券交易委员会批准了首批现货比特币交易所交易基金，这是一个分水岭时刻，加密货币爱好者们正在押注这将吸引新的散户和机构投资者进入市场。
The top American securities regulator granted permission on Wednesday to ETF sponsors ranging from established players such as BlackRock, Invesco and Fidelity to digitally focused newcomers including Grayscale and Ark Invest.
美国最高证券监管机构周三批准了ETF发起人的申请，这些发起人既包括贝莱德(BlackRock)、Invesco和富达(Fidelity)等老牌公司，也包括Grayscale和Ark Invest等专注数字技术的新进入者。
The first funds — which hold assets such as mutual funds but trade on exchanges like stocks and enjoy special tax treatment in the US — are expected to start trading as soon as Thursday morning.
首批基金——持有共同基金等资产，但像股票一样在交易所交易，并在美国享受特殊的税收待遇——预计最早将于周四上午开始交易。
The approval comes after months of anticipation and a bitter legal battle. It also caps a wild 24 hours that saw hackers briefly seize control of the SEC’s account on the social media site X and falsely claim that the applications had already been approved, prompting sharp swings in bitcoin’s price.
在经过数月的期待和激烈的法律诉讼之后，首批基金获得批准。这也结束了疯狂的24小时——黑客短暂控制了SEC在社交媒体网站X上的账户，并谎称申请已经获得批准，引发比特币价格剧烈波动。
After the approvals, bitcoin was trading at about $45,000, well below the $69,000 peak it hit in November 2021 but nearly three times the $16,000 trough it hit in December 2022 after the collapse of the now notorious crypto exchange FTX.
在获得批准后，比特币的交易价格在4.5万美元左右，远低于2021年11月达到的6.9万美元的峰值，但几乎是在现已臭名昭著的加密货币交易所FTX破产后的2022年12月跌至的1.6万美元低点的三倍。
While spot bitcoin ETFs have been available in other markets, the US approvals are expected to usher in a new era for the most popular and liquid crypto token. US institutional and retail investors will now be able to gain direct exposure to the coin through a regulated product, without the risks of buying from unregulated exchanges or the higher costs associated with ETFs that invest in bitcoin futures.
虽然现货比特币ETF已在其他市场推出，但美国的批准有望为这种最受欢迎、流动性最强的加密代币开创一个新时代。美国的机构和散户投资者现在将能够通过受监管的产品直接投资比特币，而不必承担从不受监管的交易所购买的风险，也不必承担投资比特币期货的ETF所带来的更高成本。
“It’s a huge milestone, it’s recognition of bitcoin being a large-scale traditional investment,” said Jad Comair, chief executive of Melanion Capital, the first company to launch a bitcoin thematic ETF in the EU. “We’re opening the doors to Wall Street.”
“这是一个巨大的里程碑，是对比特币作为一种大规模传统投资的认可，”首家在欧盟推出比特币主题ETF的公司Melanion Capital的首席执行官贾德•科马尔(Jad Comair)表示，“我们正在打开通往华尔街的大门。”
The decision also marks a U-turn by the SEC. The regulator resisted spot bitcoin ETFs for nearly a decade on the grounds that cryptocurrencies were susceptible to manipulation and fraud. But last year, Grayscale successfully challenged the watchdog’s rejection of an earlier spot bitcoin application. A federal appeals court ruled in August that the decision was “arbitrary and capricious”, putting pressure on the SEC to change its stance.
这一决定也标志着美国证券交易委员会的180度大转弯。近十年来，该监管机构一直以加密货币容易受到操纵和欺诈为由抵制现货比特币ETF。但去年，Grayscale成功地挑战了监管机构对一项早期现货比特币申请的拒绝。去年8月，一家联邦上诉法院裁定该决定“武断且草率”，给SEC造成了压力，迫使其改变立场。
Some crypto enthusiasts are betting that the ETFs will substantially boost demand for digital assets, though some ETF observers are sceptical that massive sums will flood into the products. When ProShares launched the first bitcoin futures ETF in 2021, it pulled in $1bn in two days.
一些加密货币爱好者押注这些ETF将大幅提振对数字资产的需求，尽管一些ETF观察人士对大量资金是否会涌入这些产品持怀疑态度。ProShares在2021年推出首只比特币期货ETF时，两天就吸引了10亿美元。
But consumer protection and investor groups have warned that making the product available via an ETF would encourage retail investors to move money into a sector known for repeated scandals and massive price fluctuations.
但消费者保护组织和投资者团体警告称，通过ETF提供该产品将鼓励散户投资者将资金转移到一个以丑闻不断和价格大幅波动而闻名的行业。
Dennis Kelleher, president of Better Markets, said the approval “is an historic mistake that will not only unleash crypto predators on tens of millions of investors and retirees but will also likely undermine financial stability”.
Better Markets总裁丹尼斯•凯莱赫(Dennis Kelleher)表示，该批准“是一个历史性的错误，不仅会向数千万投资者和退休人员释放出加密货币掠夺者，还可能破坏金融稳定”。
SEC Chair Gary Gensler tried to split the difference in a statement. “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin,” he said, telling investors to “remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto”.
美国证券交易委员会主席加里•根斯勒(Gary Gensler)试图在一份声明中弥合分歧。他说：“虽然我们今天批准了某些现货比特币 ETF股票的上市和交易，但我们并没有批准或认可比特币”，并告诉投资者“对与比特币和价值与加密货币挂钩的产品相关的众多风险保持谨慎”。
The false message posted to the SEC’s X account on Tuesday sent the bitcoin price up to a 1.5 per cent daily gain before falling as much as 3.4 per cent after the regulator set the record straight.
美国证券交易委员会的X账户周二发布的虚假信息使比特币价格日涨幅达到1.5%，但在该监管机构澄清事实后一度下跌3.4%。
The aspiring ETFs are similar in that they all invest in bitcoin directly. All aim to launch organically except for Grayscale, which seeks to convert its $29bn bitcoin trust into an ETF, and Hashdex, which plans to convert a bitcoin futures fund into a spot one.
这些有抱负的ETF的相似之处在于它们都直接投资于比特币。除Grayscale和Hashdex外，所有公司的目标都是有机推出，前者寻求将其290亿美元的比特币信托基金转换为ETF，后者计划将一只比特币期货基金转换为现货基金。
A price war has already broken out among the new ETF providers. BlackRock, Fidelity and others updated their paperwork earlier this week to announce fees less than 0.5 per cent, with several promising to waive charges altogether in the early months of trading.
新的ETF供应商之间已经爆发了价格战。贝莱德、富达等公司本周早些时候更新了他们的文件，宣布收费低于0.5%，多家公司承诺在交易的最初几个月完全免除收费。
Grayscale chief executive Michael Sonnenshein told the Financial Times that his firm had dropped its fee from 2 per cent to 1.5 per cent but did not plan further cuts. As a conversion from an existing product, GBTC “is coming to market in a very differentiated way from other ETF issuers that are starting from zero and are just getting their product launched”, he said.
Grayscale首席执行官迈克尔•索南希因(Michael Sonnenshein)向英国《金融时报》表示，他的公司已将费率从2%降至1.5%，但不打算进一步下调。他表示，作为一种现有产品的转换，GBTC“将以一种与其他ETF发行人截然不同的方式进入市场，后者从零开始，刚刚推出产品”。
Ark’s Cathie Wood — whose firm will not impose its 0.21 per cent fee until six months after launch or until its ETF reaches $1bn — characterised bitcoin as a “public good” and said she was comfortable using the product as a loss leader.
Ark的凯茜•伍德将比特币描述为一种“公共产品”，并表示她愿意亏本推出该产品。伍德的公司在推出比特币ETF6个月内，或其ETF达到10亿美元之前，不会收取0.21%的费用。
“We want to make sure that we provide access and make it as accessible as possible,” Wood told the FT. “We are not looking to maximise profits on this. We’ve got other actively managed products that will help us.”
伍德对英国《金融时报》表示：“我们希望确保我们可以提供机会，并使其尽可能容易获得。我们并不打算在这上面获得最大利润。我们还有其他主动管理型产品可以帮助我们。”
In a departure from normal ETF practice, the funds will use cash to create and redeem new shares rather than in-kind transactions involving their underlying assets — bitcoin, in this case.
与通常的ETF做法不同，这些基金将使用现金来创建和赎回新股，而不是涉及其基础资产(这里指的是比特币)的实物交易。
The SEC held out against a spot bitcoin ETF for nearly a decade, but in late 2021 it allowed ProShares to launch the first of several ETFs that hold bitcoin futures.
近十年来，美国证券交易委员会一直反对现货比特币ETF，但在2021年底，它允许ProShares推出首只持有比特币期货的ETF。
After Grayscale filed its lawsuit, well-known ETF providers began filing their own applications and the SEC started working with them to fine tune their proposals. In recent months, the issuers have spelt out how they will protect investors from market manipulation, identified some of the financial institutions that will create and redeem shares and shifted to the cash-based method of creation.
在Grayscale提起诉讼后，知名ETF提供商开始提交自己的申请，美国证券交易委员会开始与他们合作，微调他们的提案。近几个月来，发行人阐明了他们将如何保护投资者免受市场操纵，确定了一些将创建和赎回股票的金融机构，并转向以现金为基础的创建方式。
The SEC has been “one of the most sceptical regulators in the world and has gotten to the finish line and approved it”, Wood said. “And you know there’s been a lot of battle testing going on around this.”
伍德说，美国证券交易委员会一直是“世界上最持怀疑态度的监管机构之一，但最终还是批准了它。你也知道，围绕着这一点已经进行了大量的实战测试”。