Capitol Hill’s attitude towards exchange-traded funds and cryptocurrencies may be changing.
Teucrium CEO and CIO Sal Gilbertie said CNBC’s “ETF Edge” regulators are beginning to become “more friendly” than the Biden administration.
“It’s a completely different environment in Washington right now,” Gilberty said Monday. “It’s more welcome towards innovation, especially in cryptography…it’s a relief for us.”
Gilbertie’s company oversees Teucrium Double Daily XRP ETF (XXRP), which aims to return twice the performance of Cryptocurrency XRP, according to the fund’s website. As of the end of Tuesday, the ETF has grown 96% since its launch on April 7th.
Gilberty said the role of teuclium in pitching funds has not changed, but its acceptance from regulators has not changed.
“There’s no more hostility.”
“The steps we take to list the fund are the same, but there’s no more hostility,” Gilberty said. “We don’t feel hostile to them looking for a problem, they’re trying to oppose anything you’re trying to do.”
With discussions about regulating new market players such as ETFs and Crypto, Gilbertie said investors need to be familiar with new products as they enter the arena and “understand what they own.”
“The US market is the safest market in the world because we have strict and very thorough regulations,” he said. “But I think investors need to always learn.”
Teucrium Double-length XRP ETFs are for investors with high risk tolerance. In a news release this month, the company warned that the use of leverage “has a clear risk” for ETFs, and that it may not be suitable for all investors.
Eric Pan, CEO of investment firm Institute, is also encouraged by what he sees in Washington. Especially with regard to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which is involved with industry players. He believes that the discussion of cryptocurrency regulations is in its early stages.
“They [regulators] I’m very interested in hearing the opinions of groups like me at ICI. They want to talk to member companies. They want to understand what they see in the market,” Pan said in the same interview, adding that this is a “really a positive step.”
The process of deploying crypto-related ETF products is not much different from traditional ETFs that include stock, bonds and products, Pan said. In both cases, he said that certainty in regulations is important to mitigate risk for businesses and investors, but he also wants to see room for innovation.
“We like the idea of it being through competition, through businesses. [and] Our members can come up with new products, try them out and see if they are interested in them.
The excitement comes just weeks after President Trump signed the act of genius, a law regulating stablecoins. Stablecoins are a kind of cryptocurrency that is fixed in Fiat currency, like the US dollar. The law marks a major legislative victory for cryptocurrencies and promotes Trump’s goal of making the United States “global crypto capital.”
