The United States’ top securities regulator could notify potential Bitcoin ETF applicants about approval in the coming days, Reuters said on December 29.
According to that report, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may tell applicants on Tuesday, January 2 or Wednesday, January 3 that they are cleared to launch their exchange-traded funds.
This would reportedly give these applicants time to prepare for the January 10 launch. The SEC must at that time approve or deny an application from Ark/21Shares, but can also decide on other pending applications at the same time.
At least a dozen asset managers plan to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF on several exchanges, including Nasdaq, Cboe BZX and NYSE Arca.
Reuters did not indicate which applicants are likely to receive approval, but noted that several companies submitted changes on December 29 in accordance with a deadline for changes. Companies that submitted changes include BlackRock, VanEck, Valkyrie, Bitwise, Invesco, Fidelity and WisdomTree; other companies, including Ark Invest and Grayscale, have also recently filed amendments.
Asset managers were previously in discussions with SEC
The December 29 series of amendments is just one example of the recent collaboration between the SEC and asset managers. Several filers participated in a rare joint conference call with the SEC on December 21 and attended previous individual discussions; each company has also submitted numerous previous amendments.
Recent discussions focus on cash creation and redemption. Many applicants initially wanted to allow in-kind creations and redemptions, which would allow some ETF participants to trade Bitcoin. However, it seems unlikely that this feature will gain initial approval as recent changes emphasize cash models instead. Either way, any spot Bitcoin ETF will require the fund or its partners to hold Bitcoin (BTC), driving demand for the cryptocurrency.
Previous issues related to agreements to share supervision and prevent market manipulation – issues that have been largely resolved.
The post that SEC could notify potential Bitcoin ETF applicants about approval on January 3 first appeared on CryptoSlate.