SEC In Talks With Grayscale Over Spot Bitcoin ETF Filing As Window Opens To Approve Pending Applications In Next 8 Days

Updated: 09 November 2023

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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is in talks with digital asset manager Grayscale Investments about the conversion of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), CoinDesk reported.

Grayscale has been in talks with two SEC divisions (trading and markets, and corporation finance) since its landmark legal victory against the regulator on August 29, the story said.

Looks like we've got some confirmation of (1) without a hard timeline (so almost certainly decided alongside the other open apps). The most likely outcome. https://t.co/yvRvU1xbYj pic.twitter.com/5tNXcDVU8Y

— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) November 8, 2023

Research firm Bernstein says approval of spot crypto ETFs will help crypto assets under management surge as much as 13-fold in the next five years to $650 billion. The crypto fund management industry is on the cusp of a transformation from a “cottage industry’’ into a sector with $50 billion in revenues over the period, it said.

Speculation runs rife that approval could happen soon, with Bitcoin gaining over 30% in the last three months. BTC surged more than 4.4% to trade at $36,917 at 09:30 EST. About $154M worth of shorts were liquidated in the last 24 hours, according to CoinGlass.

SEC Could Approve All Pending Bitcoin ETF Applications In 8 Days

The US securities regulator could approve all pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications within eight days, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

New Research note from me today. We still believe 90% chance by Jan 10 for spot #Bitcoin ETF approvals. But if it comes earlier we are entering a window where a wave of approval orders for all the current applicants *COULD* occur pic.twitter.com/u6dBva1ytD

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 8, 2023

The regulator has a “window” to approve the pending ETF filings from November 9 to November 17. After extending the deadline for several pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications, the SEC chose November 8 as the last day for comments.

“If the agency wants to allow all 12 filers to launch – as we believe – this is the first available window since Grayscale’s court victory was affirmed,” said Seyffart.

Even if the window for approving these 12 filings closes on November 17, Seyffart estimates there’s still a 90% chance the the SEC would approve them before January 10.