BlackRock seems to be confident that its spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange traded funds (ETFs) will be given the green light by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. That is if the recent report of Fox Business is to be believed.
The Report
On Saturday, BlackRock announced that it will be laying off three percent of its workforce. That would mean around 600 employees getting laid off.
Despite the backlash, the world’s top asset management firm defended the event as a routine affair. It cited as an example the same decision it laid down last year as part of its restructuring based on employee performance.
The report then moved the discussion to the spot Bitcoin ETF filed by BlackRock. Fox Business claimed that the financial institution is expecting the approval of these new financial instruments by Wednesday, January 10.
Fueling Spot Bitcoin ETF Hype
The news actually coincides with what has been circulating in the financial and cryptocurrency world since the previous month. It should be remembered that back in December, Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart and other industry watchers deduced that the SEC may be gearing up to approve all pending spot Bitcoin ETF filings by January 5th and the official announcements could come as early as the 8th or 10th of the same month.
We are yet to learn whether the SEC has already decided on the applications because everyone involved seems to be mum about the matter. However, with the coming Monday happening to be the closest deadline in the forecasts, we are definitely keeping our eyes peeled on the developments.
These inferences from financial experts were mostly anchored on rumors from unnamed sources inside both the SEC and the financial entities involved. Fueling these speculations was the apparent haste of the regulator in processing all the applications when it set a hard deadline for all revisions in spot Bitcoin ETF filings on December 29.
There’s also the fact that all the applicants have been playing ball with the SEC in finalizing their pending documents. Everyone has already changed the redemption model of their spot Bitcoin ETF into in-cash to appease the government watchdog and increase their chances of getting the nod.
How is Bitcoin Holding Up?
The Fox report, coupled with optimism about the SEC’s ruling, pushed Bitcoin back to the $44K territory. As of this writing on Sunday morning (UTC), BTC is trading at $43,990 but the trading volume of the digital asset has dropped by 38% over the 24-hour frame. Could this mean that everyone else is now HODLing in anticipation of the major announcements this week?
Stay tuned for more updates as we continuously monitor the market for a potential landmark statement from the SEC this week.