Market Focus: SEC to Vote on Bitcoin Spot ETF Next Week

The first Bitcoin spot ETF is expected to be successfully approved.

According to four informed sources, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested several issuers seeking to list Bitcoin ETFs to submit the final version of the rule change proposal (19b-4) to the securities exchange by Friday and update the final version of the prospectus (S-1) by 8 a.m. local time on Monday.

One of the sources said, "It is expected that the SEC will vote on the trading rule filing next week."

Generally, the S-1 document is approved after 19b-4. Once both documents are successfully approved, the first Bitcoin spot ETF can start trading as early as the next working day.

After the news was released, the price of Bitcoin briefly rose by 0.7% and then fell back. As of the time of writing, it was reported at $43,812 per coin.

It is reported that companies including BlackRock and Grayscale have released a large number of updated 19b-4 documents on Friday evening. Two sources said that SEC staff have not provided further feedback.

Usually, the approval of an ETF can be entrusted to the SEC without the need for a vote, but the road to approval for a Bitcoin spot ETF has been particularly difficult.

In the past, Bitcoin spot ETFs submitted to the U.S. capital market have been rejected by the SEC multiple times, mainly due to the volatile price of Bitcoin and insufficient protection for market investors.

Last week, according to multiple media reports, discussions between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and asset management companies seeking to list Bitcoin ETFs have progressed to the technical details. More than a dozen large asset management institutions, including BlackRock, WisdomTree, and Valkyrie, are waiting for SEC approval, and the listing of spot Bitcoin ETF products may be available in early January.

However, later, Markus Thielen, an analyst at the digital currency financial services platform Matrixport, pointed out in a report released on January 3 that it is expected that the SEC will reject all Bitcoin spot ETF proposals in January, and final approval may be achieved in the second quarter of 2024.

This news caused a sharp drop in the price of Bitcoin, with a decline of more than 10% within 24 hours, falling below $41,000 per coin.