I hear so much about the SEC in the last few weeks. Can anyone explain what's so important about this decision. why it's good for the market, and why we get rejected?
Sure, the SEC is the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It's only relevant to people who engage in securities trading from/for/with a U.S. based company or exchange. If you live outside the U.S. (as most of you do) you can stop reading now.
The SEC was created in 1934 to provide regulation over the companies (securities) that are made available for investment by the public (you). The idea for the regulating entity came after the U.S. stock market crash of 1929 which lead to the Great Depression, a time of severe unemployment and hardship for many in the US. The entity protects the public from being able to invest in scam companies or companies that commit fraud.
If Mt Gox were registered by the SEC as a cryptocurrency exchange the investors who had funds held with Mt Gox would have received some compensation (not complete, but partial) for the fraud that Mt Gox committed that led to loss of so many accounts and assets. BitConnect is another more recent example.
Since the SEC can impose their regulatory effort over the crypto world they continue to refuse to let crypto related entities or securities trade over their exchanges. It's not horrible. But of the SEC did accept a Bitcoin ETF it would be great for Bitcoin.