After over 10 years of repeated rejections, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally approved the listing and trading of certain spot Bitcoin ETF shares for investors, making it easier to invest in Bitcoin without the hassle of setting up a personal wallet.

This move means that 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs from companies such as Grayscale, Fidelity, and BlackRock will be available for investors to trade on exchanges. While this is great news for the cryptocurrency space, SEC chairman Gary Gensler urges caution for investors, warning of the numerous risks associated with Bitcoin and other crypto products.

Despite this caution, ETFs could make it easier for traditional institutional investors like pension funds and insurance funds to enter the Bitcoin market, potentially pushing up the demand for the cryptocurrency. Up until now, the proxy for investing in crypto has primarily been buying shares of crypto-focused companies.

While the price of Bitcoin hardly reacted to this news, ETFs could be a game-changer for the cryptocurrency space. This decision likely represents the start of a new era for Bitcoin and the wider crypto market, paving the way for further developments in institutional investment.