The SEC has rejected firms Van Eck and Fidelity in their attempts to form Bitcoin-based ETFs citing the risk of manipulation and fraud prevention, coming amidst reports that the top 78 cryptocurrency exchanges now control 96% of all trading.
The frightening degree of aggregation means that a hack, or even collapse, of a single trading firm, which are not subject to the same rules as traditional financial exchanges, could cause catastrophic ripple effects for these so called currencies.
The report also cited “a decrease in speculation and an increase in risk-averse mentality in the market due to the uncertain market conditions over the past few months… [with] fear among investors and traders,” due to the fractious Russian invasion of Ukraine and a decline in global security.