BTC market roiled by recent SEC comments
BTC market roiled by recent SEC comments
No sooner had the cryptocurrency markets digested the information that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may approve the first tranche of Bitcoin ETF applications by January 10, 2024, than the regulator's comments appeared and caused a flurry of uncertainty.
According to Perianne Boring, president and founder of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the SEC's latest comments are seen as a signal of a delay in the approval process for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
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James Seyffarth, an analyst at Bloomberg, disagrees, pointing out that the SEC's quick processing of the Form S-1 indicates a proactive approach to resolving the issue rather than delaying it.
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On January 8, numerous spot Bitcoin ETF applicants rushed to file their final Form S-1 amendments with the SEC. These included Valkyrie, WisdomTree, BlackRock, VanEck, Invesco, Galaxy, Ark, Fidelity, Bitwise, and Franklin Templeton. Notably, the U.S. regulator has until January 10 to make a decision on Ark/21Shares' application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Despite the resulting turmoil in the cryptocurrency market, analysts suggest that SEC approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF is imminent; the only question is whether the regulator will meet the January 10, 2024 deadline.
Jay Clayton, former chairman of the SEC, said in an interview with CNBC: "I think approval is inevitable. There's nothing left to decide." Clayton points out that the U.S. cryptocurrency market has all the pieces in place to launch the first spot Bitcoin ETF, including the infrastructure to properly store and protect BTC.
However, Boring stated, "The SEC has more tools at its disposal to block spot Bitcoin ETFs from entering the market. Chairman Gensler is not going to give up without a fight."
This heated debate has helped push the price of BTC, which had reached the $47,224 mark, back below $47,000. Bitcoin is currently trading at $46,877, showing an increase of 6.5% in the last 24 hours.
Related: BlackRock and VanEck adjust fees in new S-1 Bitcoin ETF filings
