The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is facing its first deadline to make decisions on seven Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings. Notably, the SEC recently lost a lawsuit against Grayscale Investments on September 4th.
Bitwise, an investment firm, will learn whether its ETF will receive SEC approval on September 1st. Other investment giants, including BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco, and Wisdomtree, will await the SEC's decisions on their funds until March 2nd .
Valkyrie, another applicant, will receive a response from the SEC on September 4th. Despite the recent Grayscale victory, it does not guarantee approval for other applicants, as per Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.
Seyffart explained that Grayscale's win does increase the odds of success for the next round of applicants, but the timeline remains uncertain. The SEC can delay decisions, and each fund has two proposed deadlines before a final decision must be made within 240 days of filing. For those still waiting, the SEC's ultimate deadline extends to mid-March next year.
Following the August 29th ruling in favor of Grayscale, regulators have 90 days to appeal to the US Supreme Court or request a full circuit court review. However, the SEC has not yet clarified its next steps. Seyffart sees two viable options: approving Grayscale's GBTC converting into a Bitcoin spot ETF or delisting the Bitcoin futures ETF entirely based on new arguments.
Nonetheless, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas views the possibility of the SEC withdrawing the Bitcoin futures ETF as "highly unlikely" given reports of the SEC's openness to an Ethereum futures ETF.
