State of Crypto: ETF Listings Became Easier

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved a change to how companies can list and trade shares of exchange-traded funds, which should streamline the process for new products moving forward. You’re reading State of Crypto, a CoinDesk newsletter looking at the intersection of cryptocurrency and government. Click here to sign up for future editions. THE NARRATIVE A majority of commissioners at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted to streamline the process by which companies could list and trade shares of spot crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), as well as other types of ETFs, through the approval of a generic listing standard. WHY IT MATTERS For over a decade, the process to (try and) list a spot crypto exchange-traded fund was a 270-day process which usually ended in the ETF application being rejected. Last year, under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the regulator approved the first spot crypto ETFs, for Bitcoin and Ether. Over the past year, we've seen applications for a number of other assets. BREAKING IT DOWN The idea that the SEC would create generic listing standards has been…