Bitcoin Spot ETF Approved for Further Progress: BlackRock and Others Submit Revised Key Documents

On Monday, potential issuers of Bitcoin spot ETFs, including BlackRock, Ark Invest, Fidelity, Invesco, Galaxy Digital, and WisdomTree, submitted modified S-1 application forms to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), indicating further progress towards the final approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs.

Companies such as BlackRock and Grayscale had already released a significant number of updated 19b-4 filings last Friday.

In order for a Bitcoin spot ETF to be listed and traded, it must meet the relevant regulatory requirements. Institutions wishing to launch a Bitcoin ETF need to submit an S-1 form to register the security, and if the ETF is to be listed on a securities exchange, they also need to submit a 19b-4 form to obtain SEC approval for the exchange registration. These regulatory requirements are designed to ensure that investors have sufficient information and to safeguard market fairness and transparency.

According to media reports, the SEC plans to vote on the 19b-4 forms submitted by exchanges in the coming days. The SEC may or may not take action on the issuer's S-1 application form at approximately the same time. If both sets of forms are approved by the SEC, Bitcoin spot ETFs could begin trading as early as the next business day.

It is expected that the SEC will announce a series of significant decisions regarding Bitcoin spot ETFs this week. In recent days, there have been reports that BlackRock expects its new Bitcoin spot ETF to be approved by the SEC this Wednesday, and ETFs from other asset management companies are also expected to receive approval.

On Monday, Bitcoin rose to $46,000, reaching a new high since April 2022, with an intraday increase of about 4%.

Last week, Bitcoin experienced a temporary decline due to a report by Markus Thielen, an analyst at digital currency financial services platform Matrixport, predicting that the SEC would reject all Bitcoin spot ETF proposals in January, with final approval possibly not happening until the second quarter of 2024.

In late August of last year, Grayscale Investments won a crucial lawsuit against the SEC. A judge from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that the SEC's decision to approve Bitcoin futures ETFs while rejecting Grayscale's conversion of GBTC into a spot Bitcoin ETF was "arbitrary and capricious."

This significant victory for Grayscale has led to speculation that the SEC may have to compromise and give the green light to the growing demand for spot Bitcoin ETFs. Both the current SEC Chairman, Gary Gensler, and his predecessor, Jay Clayton, had previously refused to allow such products to be launched, citing the volatile nature of Bitcoin prices.Concerns about investor protection and market manipulation.

Once the Bitcoin ETF is approved, it will undoubtedly be a landmark event and a turning point in this field. This means that there could be billions of dollars of potential funds flowing in. Although Bitcoin has experienced a significant increase in value since last year, some industry insiders believe that the market still severely underestimates the potential impact of the approval of a Bitcoin ETF.