Mark your calendars! Industry watchers predict that the US SEC may finally decide on the pending spot Bitcoin ETF applications within January 5 to 10, 2024.
Dates to Watch Out For
According to Bloomberg Intelligence’s James Seyffart, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could change its stance on spot Bitcoin exchange traded funds (ETF). With that, the regulator may decide on the dozen of filings prior to the rumored January 10. The analyst plots the date as early as the fifth, with the most logical schedules falling from Monday to Wednesday or the eighth to tenth of the month.
Seyffart attached notices signed by the SEC Division of Trading and Market’s Sherry Haywood in his post to drive his point.
One of the latest top traditional finance (TradFi) institutions to join the spot Bitcoin ETF fray was Franklin Templeton. Last week, the SEC opened the comment period for the company’s bid earlier than expected, with the comment period extending until January 5. Comments on Hashdex’s application also fell on the same deadline.
There’s a consensus saying that the SEC might be lining up all the filings so it could rule on them at the same time. Van Buren Capital general partner Scott Johnson, as quoted by Seyffart, said SEC will unlikely decide on the weekend after the fifth of January, so the following Monday to Wednesday should mark the pivotal event.
January 10 happens to be the ultimatum for the SEC to nail its decision on the 21 Shares & Ark spot Bitcoin ETF submitted by Ark Invest back in June. Experts, including Ark CEO Cathie Wood, believe the regulator may approve everything on that date to level the playing field for everyone.
Meanwhile, some in the opposition believe the SEC may still choose to deny the spot Bitcoin ETF requests. The agency could reiterate its concerns for potential market manipulation in its ruling similar to its reasoning for rejecting earlier applicants like Grayscale.
BlackRock and US Government May Be Manipulating Bitcoin Price
By now, it should be very evident that the anticipation for spot Bitcoin ETF is a primary influence in the volatility of BTC. Roundtable’s Rob Nelson and Altcoin Daily’s Austin Arnold suspect both the US government and BlackRock may be onto something here.
The analysts speculated that the parties may be intentionally manipulating the price of the cryptocurrency via the spot Bitcoin ETF hype so they could accumulate more of the digital asset when the price is low. The ultimate payoff would be the approval of the filings, which, together with the expected halving phenomenon in April, could inevitably shoot Bitcoin to the moon.