In the latest development, around a dozen bitcoin spot ETF (exchange-traded fund) applicants have filed 19b-4 amendment documents. These filings come just days before the deadline for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the investment product.
Will the bitcoin Spot ETF be approved next week?
On Friday, January 5, 11 asset management firms will look to offer bitcoin spot ETFs in the US. introduced amendments 19b-4 for your applications. These companies include BlackRock, Grayscale, Valkyrie, ARK 21shares, Hashdex, Biteise, Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity, VanEck, WisdomTree, and Franklin Templeton.
These filings are one of the final defining steps in the SEC approval process for an exchange-traded fund. However, S-1 filings still need to be completed and approved for exchanges in the United States to begin listing crypto ETF products.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, in a publish in X, suggested that the bitcoin spot ETF will receive SEC approval next week. Citing multiple anonymous sources, the approval process for the investment vehicle is basically complete and final S-1 filings are due next Monday, January 8.
Balchunas said:
Yes, it's basically done. The last I heard (from multiple sources) is that the final S-1s are due Monday at 8am, as the SEC is trying to get everyone lined up for the January 11th release. That being said, I still want to hear it from the SEC to call it official.
James Seyffart, another Bloomberg analyst, added more optimism that the SEC will greenlight a bitcoin spot ETF next week. The analyst said in a post on platform X:
We need to see approval of these amended submissions (which should arrive next week). And then we need the S-1 documents to go into effect (which could also happen next week). So it's a done deal.
While these experts are very positive about the chances of a bitcoin ETF being approved in early 2024, US financial advisors do not seem confident that the SEC will authorize the product this year. TO recent Bitwise survey found that only 39% of advisors believe the btc Spot ETF will be approved in 2024.
BlackRock has $2 billion of capital reserved for bitcoin ETFs
There is a belief that the approval of a bitcoin spot ETF will lead to greater institutional demand and influx into the leading cryptocurrency. BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, appears to be leading the charge.
VanEck's Matthew Sigel just said he heard from a well-placed source that BlackRock has $2 billion of capital lined up from existing bitcoin holders who want to rotate into spot bitcoin ETFs in the first week. If true, $2 billion would destroy all first day/week volume/aug records…
– Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 6, 2024
According to VanEck's head of digital asset research, Matthew Sigel, BlackRock has $2 billion of capital reserved from current bitcoin holders who want to “rotate” into bitcoin spot ETFs in the first week. Eric Balchunas noted that “if true, $2 billion would destroy all first day/week volume/aug records for an ETF.”
At the time of writing, bitcoin is valued at $43,800, reflecting a 0.3% change over the past day.
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium" src="https://technicalterrence.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Bitcoin-Spot-ETF-Applicants-Submit-19b-4-Amendment-Forms-Approval-Imminent" alt="bitcoin Spot ETF” width=”2174″ height=”1434″/>
bitcoin price looks to break above $44,000 on the daily timeframe | Source: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView
