The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is approaching a critical moment regarding the approval of the first Bitcoin spot ETF application. According to Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, the final stage of the spot ETF application is currently in progress, and asset management companies that have submitted applications are expected to submit their final revised documents on January 8th.
It is understood that ETF issuers must submit the S-1 revised documents before 8:00 am Eastern Time on January 8th (8:00 pm Taiwan time), disclosing the fees and ticker symbols of the ETF. Previously, BlackRock had not disclosed the fees associated with its Bitcoin spot ETF in its earlier documents.
Eric Balchunas explained that the submission of the proposed rule change (19b-4) and the ETF prospectus document (S-1) are the final steps before the SEC makes a decision. The SEC is expected to approve both the 19b-4 and S-1 documents simultaneously, but usually approves the 19b-4 document first.
Earlier, 11 Bitcoin spot ETF issuers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Ark, Valkyrie, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, Invesco, WisdomTree, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck, had submitted their 19b-4 revised documents on January 5th.
There is no public agenda for the SEC before January 11th, but they still have the authority to authorize approval. The next stage of the decision-making process will be the vote of the SEC commissioners. Although there are currently no arrangements on the SEC’s public agenda before January 11th, Eric Balchunas pointed out that the SEC can make a decision using its authorization policy, and it is not necessary to vote.
In general, ETF approvals do not require commissioner votes and can be directly delegated to SEC staff.
Eric Balchunas predicts that most applications that meet the SEC requirements, or at least those submitted before December 29th, will be approved this week. After the first ETF application is approved, the SEC may make a decision on Grayscale’s GBTC conversion to Bitcoin spot ETF application.
Previously, Fox Business reported that BlackRock expects the SEC to approve its Bitcoin spot ETF application on the 10th. Matthew, the head of digital research at VanEck, stated that there are rumors that BlackRock has already allocated over $2 billion in funds for the new ETF in the first week, breaking the record for the highest trading volume/assets under management on the first day/first week for all ETFs.
Further reading:
BlackRock expects ETF approval on “1/10”? VanEck: Rumored to prepare $200 million BTC issuance for the first week of Bitcoin spot ETF
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