Crypto has a chance to join polite society — if it can get out of its own way

A version of this story appeared in CNN Business’ Nightcap newsletter. A court effectively forced the Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a new financial product that the crypto industry had been pushing for years, known as spot bitcoin ETFs, or exchange-traded funds. In short, these ETFs made it easier for traditional investors to gain exposure to bitcoin’s price movements without all the hassle of actually owning bitcoin and keeping it in a digital wallet. Risky financial assets like crypto tend to do better when money is cheap, so the Fed’s pivot to cutting interest rates in the last three months has been welcome news for investors of all stripes. “If you’re a regulator… you don’t get to pick and choose which markets exist — your job is to sort of accept that markets do exist and figure out the best way to put guardrails around them,” said Homer, who previously oversaw licensing for digital assets at the New York State Department of Financial Services.