SEC discusses ‘key technical details’ with spot crypto ETF applicants: Report

Officials with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission are reportedly discussing the issues of Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, offered by asset managers.

According to a Dec. 7 Reuters report, industry insiders said the SEC and certain asset managers were discussing “key technical details” related to U.S. exchange-listed spot bitcoin ETF shares. So far, the commission has never green-lighted any cryptocurrency exchange-traded product, instead deferring decisions on applications for the maximum time allowed.

Memos released by the SEC in November showed the commission met separately with representatives of BlackRock and Greyscale. Both asset managers and Hashdex, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck and Fidelity have provided listings for spot BTC or Ether (ETH) ETFs.

“The expected approval of the ETF will be positive news for the crypto market, which could lead to significant growth,” said Adam Becker, senior legal counsel at Mercury. “With ETFs in the future, a wider range of TradFi investors will have easier access to crypto assets. With major players such as Fidelity and BlackRock supporting this product, substantial institutional capital is expected to flow into the market.”

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It is not clear whether the SEC will finally reach a decision to approve the Bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg EFF analyst James Seifert speculated that funding from multiple firms could move forward simultaneously in January if the commission decides to support one.

Many in and out of the crypto space have criticized SEC Chairman Gary Gensler's approach to treating certain tokens as securities. The commission has ongoing charges against Terraform Labs, Ripple, Coinbase and Binance.

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