Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval ‘Still Happening’ Until Jan 10, Analysts Say
Spot Bitcoin (BTC) indexers (ETFs) expect ETF approvals in the United States in early 2024 to incorporate new cash-only requirements into their proposals in the final month of 2023.
Bloomberg ETF analysts James Seifert and Eric Balchunas estimate that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve a spot Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, although last-minute applicants are scrambling to add to their proposals.
Seifert took to X (formerly Twitter) on Dec. 21 to share his comments about BlackRock's latest position on the Bitcoin ETF update from Dec. 18, which adopted the SEC's cash redemption system instead of in-kind redemptions or those that refer to non-cash payments. BTC
The analyst noted that BlackRock's latest iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF S-1 registration statement replaced the words “principal broker and commercial credit lender” with “principal executive agent,” a change the SEC said it “may not be comfortable with.”
“It will be interesting to see who will update their documents after this,” Seifert wrote, adding that the SEC may not accept a third party buying and selling Bitcoin on behalf of an ETF in the Bitcoin Cash model.
The analyst noted that many indicators such as ARK, Bitwise and Valkyrie have already set up for a cash-only model, while some – including Grayscale and WisdomTree – still offer in-kind or cash.
Related: Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Be ‘Bloodbath' For Crypto Exchange, Says Analyst
“All of that is to say — we still think this is happening on January 10,” Seifert said. “Some issuers may be left behind,” he added, noting that some filers have not embraced the SEC's cash-only model.
Seifert's Balchunas agreed that the ongoing meetings and calls among SEC multi-position BTC ETF filers are “an interesting and good sign for January.”
“What we're hearing is one massive conf call b/t the SEC and not every issuer, but multiple calls to exchanges/issuers that the call will re-fund or expect,” Balchunas wrote.
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