The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) latest decision wasn’t enough to change the main cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency surpassed $38,000 even thanks to the SEC’s reprieve two Spot Bitcoin ETFs.
SEC Slows Down Templeton and Hashdex Bitcoin Spot ETF
On November 28, the SEC postponed its decision Templeton And from Hashdex Spot Bitcoin ETF application. As part of the announcement, the Commission also asked for comments on what has been its biggest concern to date: the issue of fraud and manipulation and whether or not existing supervisory agreements can help curb this.
Despite this development, the crypto market seemed unperturbed as Bitcoin surpassed $38,000, and altcoins also posted some gains. This would come as a surprise to many given the latest momentum in the market largely attributed to the possibility of one Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval.
A plausible explanation could be that investors are certain of this approval is pending, regardless of the Commission’s actions. This is evident from the fact that institutional money continues to flow into the crypto market. The latest report from CoinShare showed that last week the crypto market saw the largest weekly inflow since late 2021.
Meanwhile, the SEC’s latest postponement is interesting, as a decision on both applications wouldn’t come until January 1, 2024. This has led to several speculations as to whether this move still means approval is on the horizon.
BTC price at $38,140 | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
The latest SEC postponement could be a good sign
In a after shared on his X (formerly Twitter) platform, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart questioned the SEC’s actions and what it could mean for a potential approval. He reasoned that the SEC’s decision could set the stage for a “full wave of approvals” in early January. The analyst had rather the probability of an approval in January 2024 at 90%.
He further stated that the delay in Hashdex’s application (Hashdex’s announcement came shortly after Templeton’s) confirmed his reasoning. He believes the SEC is taking steps to line up all applicants for potential approval by January 10, 2024. He was quick to note that these approvals would apply to the 19b-4 and did not necessarily mean an immediate launch.
Scott Johnson, a notable lawyer for Davis Polk, also shared the same sentiments as Seyffart. He declared that the SEC may have chosen to delay these filings early so that the comment period could end before January 10, 2024. This way they can approve all requests at the same time.
Featured image from Forkast News, chart from Tradingview.com