On Wednesday, Bitcoin prices rose to $38,000 amid expectations that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would finally approve the first Spot BTC ETF. The regulator would ultimately exercise its right to further delay its decision, something that has generally been bearish for the price. However, the Bitcoin price continued to show strength, suggesting that a Spot Bitcoin ETF approval could already be priced into the market.
SEC Delays Spot BTC ETFs
The second announced on Wednesday that it had decided to further delay its decision on the filing of Spot Bitcoin ETF; specifically the Hashdex Spot Bitcoin ETF application which was due to a decision or delay on November 15th. The Commission decided that it needed more time to consider and thoroughly investigate the application before providing a final answer. This means that a decision on the Hashdex ETF application is not expected until 2024.
The SEC has not only decided to postpone its decision on the Hashdex Spot ETF filing, but has also chosen to do so on the Grayscale Ethereum Futures filing. This comes even after Grayscale emerged victorious in court against the regulator, which demanded that the SEC review Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF application.
As with the Hashdex ETF, the SEC, choosing to delay its decision on the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF, is pushing the deadline to 2024, dashing hopes for the ETFs’ arrival this year. However, both Bitcoin and Ethereum seemed to have shrugged off this news with little to no reaction.
BTC bulls hold steady | Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview.com
Bitcoin Price Is Already Responsible for ETF Approvals?
The crypto community has been anticipating the approvals for a Spot Bitcoin ETF and an Ethereum Futures ETF for months. And as with other assets, investors can become indifferent about whether the news affects their investment decisions or not.
Such a development would mean that Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF approvals are already priced in, and would not have much impact on the price when they are ultimately approved. However, this does not seem to be entirely the case.
An example of this is when the price of XRP soared after rumors of BlackRock filing an XRP ETF, then crashed after it was debunked. But on Wednesday, as expectations increased around the SEC’s decision, Bitcoin and Ethereum prices rose to $38,000 and $2,080 respectively, indicating that investors are still expecting approval to move the market significantly.
What seems to be happening is that news of regulator delays no longer has the bearish effects they used to. In this case, investors simply don’t react to the news of a postponement as they normally would because it is not widely understood that this is not the same as a rejection.
The Bitcoin price has since bounced back since hitting $38,000, but remains at a healthy $37,000 at the time of writing. Ethereum has also followed suit, falling to $2,046 from Wednesday’s peak of $2,080.
Featured image from CNBC, chart from Tradingview.com