SEC weighs spot Bitcoin-ETF launches with several issuers

Over the past week, representatives from BlackRock, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity discussed with officials from the SEC proposals for launching a spot Bitcoin-ETF. This was noted by Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart.

Nothing groundbreaking to report but 4 different issuers have met with the SEC regarding their #Bitcoin ETF filings in last few days. @BlackRock met with them yesterday for the third time in as many weeks. While @Grayscale, Franklin, and @Fidelity each had meetings last week pic.twitter.com/5gwBk83m0o

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 12, 2023

Attendees included staff from the Division of Trading and Markets, as well as the regulator’s Division of Corporation Finance.

“These are two divisions that will ultimately decide whether 19b-4 and the S-1 will be approved or rejected, and when that will happen,” Seyffart explained.

His optimism was shared by colleague Eric Balchunas.

Damn, the SEC is busier than Santa’s elves. BlackRock’s third meeting with them yesterday is the most notable IMO as everyone is waiting to see if they can convince SEC to allow in-kind creations in the first run of approvals. https://t.co/r2jqgpg87m

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) December 12, 2023

“Черт возьми, SEC занята больше, чем эльфы Санты. Третья встреча BlackRock с ними вчера — самая заметная, поскольку все ждут, смогут ли они убедить Комиссию разрешить инструмент при первом потоке одобрений,” — подчеркнул он.

First such meetings took place in November. According to Reuters, this signals a move toward the final stage before the product’s registration. A similar view is shared by Seyffart.

Lawyer Scott Johnson predicted that the regulator would grant all applications for the instrument in one go by January 10, 2024.

Seyffart urged not to hinge expectations on inflows of $100 billion into the spot Bitcoin-ETF. He noted that the current AUM of gold ETFs stands at $95 billion, and the rise to that level has been under way since 2004.

This is likely an overestimation of demand in my opinion. Gold ETFs have been around since 2004 in the U.S. & currently have ~$95 billion in assets here. Spot #Bitcoin ETFs getting that much in inflows would be an EXTREME outlier success case even if measured over multiple years https://t.co/K2opcc2E9S

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 12, 2023

“Products receiving such a substantial inflow of funds would be an extremely rare success story, even when measured over several years,” he explained.

Hashdex analysts forecasted the start of trading for spot Bitcoin-ETF in the second quarter of 2024.