The advisory clarifies that Bitcoin exchange traded products, such as Grayscale BItcoin Trust - GBTC, are considered securities. Image: Rcc_Btn/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe Office of Government Ethics has said that ownership of investment funds based on Bitcoin is subject to disclosure on both confidential and public disclosure forms that many federal employees must file and are not covered by regulatory exemptions to the conflict-of-interest laws that apply to mutual funds and publicly traded securities.
The advisory is the latest in a series of interpretations of recent years of how cryptocurrencies and other newly arising financial instruments fit into ethics laws and rules meant to prevent or find conflicts of interests.
It says that “Bitcoin exchange-traded products,” which invest principally in Bitcoin, are securities for purposes of securities laws, and although many of them use the term “fund” or “trust” in their names, they do not fall under certain exemptions [to the criminal financial conflict of interest law] applying to mutual funds.
Similarly, it says that Bitcoin ETPs do not fall under certain other exemptions to the criminal financial conflict of interest law applying to publicly traded securities; while they are publicly traded, they do not qualify under the exemption’s definition of a security, it said.
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