News came in during the New Year celebration that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may decide on the pending spot Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETFs) as early as January 2 or 3. With no news coming in as of this writing, there’s speculation that it may be delayed by a week.
Possible Delay on Spot Bitcoin ETF Decision
The SEC has an ultimatum to lay down its verdict on the spot Bitcoin ETF filing of ARK Invest’s ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF by January 10, 2024. With the recent fast-tracking of the process and the hard deadline it set for amendments in the filing of all parties involved last December 29, 2023, the consensus has more reason to believe that the regulator may be aiming to nail its ruling for everyone within the said period. The mass approval could also help level the field for all players like what ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood pointed out in the past.
Thanks to Polymarket, a decentralized events prediction market, there’s now a wedge in the public’s optimism. According to a new event on the platform, spot Bitcoin ETFs could get the nod from the SEC by January 15. As of press time, an average of 85% of the people there are wagering on this possibility. This represents over 60% change in the perception of users within the past month.
Feeding the FUD
A postponement by a week is still a positive development in Bitcoin and the overall crypto market. However, there’s a psychological deadline created by the mass media that we might see approvals between January 8 to 10.
Missing out on this date could feed the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) claiming that the SEC, in cahoots with its favored institutions, may push back or deny applications initially to orchestrate the biggest rug pull masterminded by the government in history. They say this way, the US government and its alleged cronies in companies like BlackRock could scoop in more supply of Bitcoin before the eventual approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
As I mentioned, however, this bleak scenario painted by the likes of the ETF Store President Nate Geraci would be tantamount to SEC shooting itself in the foot. It will be career suicide for all the people involved, especially for SEC Chair Gary Gensler, because the ensuing pandemonium will certainly earn them the ire of Congress. Not to mention that it could also result in a potential lawsuit from ARK Invest, whose filing is already due on January 10th.