SEC, Spot Bitcoin ETF Issuer Talks have Advanced to "Key Details:" Report

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Discussions between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and hopeful spot Bitcoin ETF issuers have progressed to “key details,” according to a new report citing industry utives.

“Mark your calendars people”

Reuters reported the encouraging news on Thursday morning, which experts suggest would signal greater mainstream adoption of regulated cryptocurrencies throughout the U.S. market.

The report comes shortly after Bloomberg ETF researcher James Seyffart announced the window for spot Bitcoin ETF approvals should fall between January 5th and January 10th, 2024

“Really this means that any potential approval orders are going to come on either Monday Jan 8, Tuesday Jan 9, or Wednesday Jan 10,” Seyffart posted on X. “Mark your calendars people.”

A hard-won fight

The SEC’s long-awaited approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF would put an end to a well-established legal saga that saw the federal regulator originally reject digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments’ goal of converting an estimated $17 billion of GBTC into a spot ETF in June 2022.

At the time, the SEC claimed “the proposal did not meet anti-fraud and investor protection standards.”

However, in August 2023, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Neomi Rao reversed the SEC’s original decision.

“Grayscale’s primary argument is straightforward: the Commission acted arbitrarily and capriciously by denying the listing of Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin ETP and approving the listing of materially similar bitcoin futures ETPs,” Rao stated.

Bull market ahead?

Grayscale Investments was back in the news this week as CEO Michael Sonnenshein pushed back against anti-crypto statements made by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon at a Senate Banking Committee hearing Thursday.

“I think every utive, particularly in the financial service space, is going to have their own opinions on new technologies and whether that’s crypto or Bitcoin specifically,” Sonneshein said. “But if you take a big step back, there is no question that this asset class is here to stay, that investor interest in this asset class is only growing.”

Having initially filed for spot Bitcoin ETF approval in 2021, a green light from the SEC would signal the end of Grayscale Investments’ years-long campaign.

Currently, 13 other different spot Bitcoin ETF applicants are awaiting alongside Grayscale Investments for potential approval, including VanEck Bitcoin Trust, Invesco Gallery Bitcoin ETF, and Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust, amongst others.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin continues to ride high following a rally that saw the token’s value surpass $44,000, its highest since April 2022.

Fueled by optimism of a potential spot Bitcoin ETF approval, Bitcoin’s dramatic increase in value has stoked suggestions that crypto may be facing a potential bull market in 2024. If so, it would put an end to a nearly year-and-a-half-long crypto winter and spark an expected increase in investor interest in cryptocurrency