- The recent decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not prove sufficient to hold back the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin.
- Given that the current market momentum is largely linked to the possibility of approving a Spot Bitcoin ETF, this might come as a surprise to many.
- Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart questioned the SEC’s actions and what it could mean for a potential approval.
US Securities and Exchange Commission fails to thwart Bitcoin price with latest spot Bitcoin ETF postponements: So why?
SEC Fails to Halt Bitcoin Price
The recent decision by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not prove sufficient to hold back the leading cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Even with the SEC’s deferral of two Spot Bitcoin ETFs, Bitcoin surpassed $38,000. On November 28, the SEC deferred the application for a Spot Bitcoin ETF by Templeton and Hashdex.
As part of this announcement, the Commission invited comments on the biggest concern so far, fraud and manipulation, and whether the existing surveillance agreements could prevent it. However, despite this development, the crypto market was notably unaffected, with Bitcoin surpassing $38,000 and some altcoins also gaining.
Given the prevailing market momentum largely associated with the possibility of approving a Spot Bitcoin ETF, this might be surprising to many. A possible interpretation is that investors are confident in the inevitability of approval despite the Commission’s actions. This is an indication that institutional money continues to flow into the crypto market.
CoinShares’ recent report showed that the crypto market saw its largest weekly inflow since late 2021 last week. Meanwhile, the SEC’s latest deferral is an interesting situation because the decision for both applications was not expected until January 1, 2024. This has sparked speculation about whether approval is still on the horizon.
SEC’s Latest Delay Could Be a Good Sign
In a tweet shared on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart questioned the SEC’s actions and what it could mean for a potential approval. He suggested that the SEC’s decision may be setting things up for a “full wave of approvals” in January. The analyst had previously assessed the likelihood of approval in January 2024 at 90%.
He also noted that the deferral of Hashdex’s application (Hashdex’s announcement came shortly after Templeton’s) confirmed his thinking. Seyffart believes the SEC is moving to prepare all applicants for potential approval by January 10, 2024. He immediately clarified that these approvals would likely be for 19b-4 and wouldn’t necessarily mean an immediate launch.
Scott Johnsson, a prominent lawyer from Davis Polk, shared Seyffart’s thoughts. He pointed out that the SEC likely deferred these applications early to ensure the end of the comment period before January 10, 2024. This way, they could potentially approve all applications simultaneously.
