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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.
美國證券交易委員會批准了首批現貨比特幣交易所交易基金，這是一個分水嶺時刻，加密貨幣愛好者們正在押注這將吸引新的散戶和機構投資者進入市場。
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.
美國最高證券監管機構週三批准了ETF發起人的申請，這些發起人既包括貝萊德(BlackRock)、Invesco和富達(Fidelity)等老牌公司，也包括Grayscale和Ark Invest等專注數字技術的新進入者。
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——持有共同基金等資產，但像股票一樣在交易所交易，並在美國享受特殊的稅收待遇——預計最早將於週四上午開始交易。
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.
在經過數月的期待和激烈的法律訴訟之後，首批基金獲得批准。這也結束了瘋狂的24小時——駭客短暫控制了SEC在社群媒體網站X上的賬戶，並謊稱申請已經獲得批准，引發比特幣價格劇烈波動。
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.
在獲得批准後，比特幣的交易價格在4.5萬美元左右，遠低於2021年11月達到的6.9萬美元的峯值，但幾乎是在現已臭名昭著的加密貨幣交易所FTX破產後的2022年12月跌至的1.6萬美元低點的三倍。
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.
雖然現貨比特幣ETF已在其他市場推出，但美國的批准有望爲這種最受歡迎、流動性最強的加密代幣開創一個新時代。美國的機構和散戶投資者現在將能夠透過受監管的產品直接投資比特幣，而不必承擔從不受監管的交易所購買的風險，也不必承擔投資比特幣期貨的ETF所帶來的更高成本。
“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.”
「這是一個巨大的里程碑，是對比特幣作爲一種大規模傳統投資的認可，」首家在歐盟推出比特幣主題ETF的公司Melanion Capital的首席執行長賈德•科馬爾(Jad Comair)表示，「我們正在打開通往華爾街的大門。」
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.
這一決定也標誌着美國證券交易委員會的180度大轉彎。近十年來，該監管機構一直以加密貨幣容易受到操縱和欺詐爲由抵制現貨比特幣ETF。但去年，Grayscale成功地挑戰了監管機構對一項早期現貨比特幣申請的拒絕。去年8月，一家聯邦上訴法院裁定該決定「武斷且草率」，給SEC造成了壓力，迫使其改變立場。
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.
一些加密貨幣愛好者押注這些ETF將大幅提振對數位資產的需求，儘管一些ETF觀察人士對大量資金是否會湧入這些產品持懷疑態度。ProShares在2021年推出首隻比特幣期貨ETF時，兩天就吸引了10億美元。
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.
但消費者保護組織和投資者團體警告稱，透過ETF提供該產品將鼓勵散戶投資者將資金轉移到一個以醜聞不斷和價格大幅波動而聞名的行業。
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總裁丹尼斯•凱萊赫(Dennis Kelleher)表示，該批准「是一個歷史性的錯誤，不僅會向數千萬投資者和退休人員釋放出加密貨幣掠奪者，還可能破壞金融穩定」。
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”.
美國證券交易委員會主席加里•根斯勒(Gary Gensler)試圖在一份聲明中彌合分歧。他說：「雖然我們今天批准了某些現貨比特幣 ETF股票的上市和交易，但我們並沒有批准或認可比特幣」，並告訴投資者「對與比特幣和價值與加密貨幣掛鉤的產品相關的衆多風險保持謹慎」。
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.
美國證券交易委員會的X賬戶週二發佈的虛假資訊使比特幣價格日漲幅達到1.5%，但在該監管機構澄清事實後一度下跌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.
這些有抱負的ETF的相似之處在於它們都直接投資於比特幣。除Grayscale和Hashdex外，所有公司的目標都是有機推出，前者尋求將其290億美元的比特幣信託基金轉換爲ETF，後者計劃將一隻比特幣期貨基金轉換爲現貨基金。
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供應商之間已經爆發了價格戰。貝萊德、富達等公司本週早些時候更新了他們的檔案，宣佈收費低於0.5%，多家公司承諾在交易的最初幾個月完全免除收費。
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首席執行長邁克爾•索南希因(Michael Sonnenshein)向英國《金融時報》表示，他的公司已將費率從2%降至1.5%，但不打算進一步下調。他表示，作爲一種現有產品的轉換，GBTC「將以一種與其他ETF發行人截然不同的方式進入市場，後者從零開始，剛剛推出產品」。
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的凱茜•伍德將比特幣描述爲一種「公共產品」，並表示她願意虧本推出該產品。伍德的公司在推出比特幣ETF6個月內，或其ETF達到10億美元之前，不會收取0.21%的費用。
“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.”
伍德對英國《金融時報》表示：「我們希望確保我們可以提供機會，並使其儘可能容易獲得。我們並不打算在這上面獲得最大利潤。我們還有其他主動管理型產品可以幫助我們。」
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.
與通常的ETF做法不同，這些基金將使用現金來成立和贖回新股，而不是涉及其基礎資產(這裏指的是比特幣)的實物交易。
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.
近十年來，美國證券交易委員會一直反對現貨比特幣ETF，但在2021年底，它允許ProShares推出首隻持有比特幣期貨的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提起訴訟後，知名ETF提供商開始提交自己的申請，美國證券交易委員會開始與他們合作，微調他們的提案。近幾個月來，發行人闡明瞭他們將如何保護投資者免受市場操縱，確定了一些將成立和贖回股票的金融機構，並轉向以現金爲基礎的成立方式。
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.”
伍德說，美國證券交易委員會一直是「世界上最持懷疑態度的監管機構之一，但最終還是批准了它。你也知道，圍繞著這一點已經進行了大量的實戰測試」。