Bloomberg analysts assessed the chances of approving a spot bitcoin ETF in the United States
Date: 2023-08-03 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BLOCKCHAIN, IN WORLD
Bloomberg analysts believe that progress in the Ripple v. SEC case and the upcoming Grayscale lawsuit will be critical to the approval of the first U.S. spot bitcoin ETF.
Analysts Eric Balciunas and James Seyffart said the chances of a spot bitcoin ETF being approved by the US Securities and Exchange Commission have risen from 1% to 65%. This happened due to a number of positive developments in the crypto market and the re-submission of applications for the launch of the fund by the investment giant BlackRock.
Seiffart noted that much will depend on the timing of the Grayscale case and the decision of the federal court. He added that Grayscale's victory over the SEC could start a series of simultaneous approvals of all Bitcoin ETF applications by the end of this year.
Rejection of applications for Bitcoin-ETF could cost Gensler his career
Bloomberg analysts also believe that the rejection of applications to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF could end the career of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. However, they noted that the official start of consideration of applications by the Commission may indicate a softening of the regulator's position. Moreover, earlier Gensler has repeatedly stated that he considers BTC to be commodities.
June 15, the investment giant BlackRock sent an application to the SEC to launch a spot bitcoin ETF. WisdomTree, VanEck, Invesco and a number of others followed the world's largest asset manager and did the same.
On June 30, Wall Street Journal sources reported that the Commission had rejected the documents, calling them "not clear and comprehensive enough." SEC officials said the companies did not provide enough information about how the data exchange would take place. In addition, no applications met standards designed to prevent fraud and manipulation and protect investors and the public interest.
The funds hurried to make adjustments to the applications in order to prove to the regulator the effectiveness and safety of the instrument. For example, Nasdaq added one of the largest crypto exchanges Coinbase to the application as an observer. This means that the platform will provide data on Bitcoin prices and liquidity, as well as help prevent fraud and manipulation. All submissions are currently under review, and Seiffart and Balciunas agree that the BlackRock and Coinbase co-supervisory agreement has radically changed the course of events and significantly increased the chances of approval of the first US spot ETF.
