The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has held multiple meetings with spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers regarding their applications. “The SEC is busier than Santa’s elves,” said a Bloomberg ETF analyst, noting that Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, recently met with the SEC three times.
More Spot Bitcoin ETF Issuers Meeting With SEC
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently held meetings with four different issuers regarding their spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings.
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart shared on social media X Tuesday that Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager, returned to the SEC on Monday for the third time in recent weeks to discuss its spot bitcoin ETF application. He noted that the securities watchdog also held meetings with Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale Investments. According to meeting memorandums posted on the SEC website, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton met with the SEC on Dec. 8, Fidelity Investments on Dec. 7, and Blackrock’s latest meeting with the SEC was on Dec. 11.
Eric Balchunas, a senior Bloomberg ETF analyst, commented on X Tuesday:
The SEC is busier than Santa’s elves. Blackrock’s third meeting with them yesterday is the most notable IMO as everyone is waiting to see if they can convince SEC to allow in-kind creations in the first run of approvals.
Nothing groundbreaking to report but 4 different issuers have met with the SEC regarding their #Bitcoin ETF filings in last few days. @BlackRock met with them yesterday for the third time in as many weeks. While @Grayscale, Franklin, and @Fidelity each had meetings last week pic.twitter.com/5gwBk83m0o
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 12, 2023
“As you can see from the screenshots — both the [SEC] Division of Trading & Markets and the Division of Corporate Finance were present at each of these meetings. Those are the two divisions that will ultimately decide if & when the 19b-4’s & S-1’s would be approved or denied,” Seyffart noted.
Spot bitcoin ETF issuers have filed Form 19b-4 and S-1 with the SEC. The former is used by covered self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to record a rule change with the SEC while the latter is a registration statement.
One of the issues Blackrock, and other spot bitcoin ETF issuers, discussed with the SEC concerns the use of the in-kind creation model instead of the cash creation model for their spot bitcoin ETFs. While the SEC favors the cash model, Blackrock and other issuers advocate for in-kind creation. To address the regulator’s concerns, Blackrock has proposed a revised in-kind model. In its latest spot bitcoin ETF filing update, Blackrock addressed the potential classification of bitcoin as a security by the SEC.
Bloomberg has predicted a 90% chance of the SEC approving spot bitcoin ETFs by Jan. 10. There are currently 13 applications that the securities watchdog is considering. Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci has predicted a massive capital inflow from Wall Street into BTC following spot bitcoin ETF approvals while Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz expects the price of the cryptocurrency to be “significantly higher.”
What do you think about all these spot bitcoin ETF issuers meeting with the SEC multiple times? Do you think the regulator will soon approve spot bitcoin ETFs? Let us know in the comments section below.
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