Ex-SEC chief says spot Bitcoin ETF approval is inevitable.

The former chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Jay Clayton, told CNBC that the regulator will inevitably approve ETF based on the spot price of the first cryptocurrency.

“Approval is inevitable. The dichotomy between futures and cash products cannot go on forever,” he said.

Clayton noted that he was not surprised by the regulator postpone consideration of applications to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, VanEck, WisdomTree, Invesco and Valkyrie at least until mid-October.

In addition, the former head of the SEC declined to answer what he would do if he were in the position of current Chair Gary Gensler.

“It is clear that bitcoin is not a security. It is clear that retail and institutional investors want access to it. And, more importantly, some of our most trusted providers want to offer bitcoin to the retail public,” he added.

Co-founder of Morgan Creek Digital Anthony Pompliano expressed a similar view. In a CNBC interview he said the SEC would approve a spot Bitcoin ETF, and it would bring \”billions of dollars\” to the crypto industry.

On June 15, BlackRock submitted to the SEC an application for a digital-gold-based investment product. Following the financial giant, similar requests came from Valkyrie, Fidelity Investments, WisdomTree and Invesco. However the regulator returned all filings.

Subsequently, the companies promptly sent to the agency clarified proposals. On July 14, the Commission began reviewing applications from BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity Investments, Invesco and WisdomTree.

So far, the SEC has not approved any spot Bitcoin ETFs. The Commission has granted an exception for futures-based products from ProShares and Valkyrie Investments.

In total, the regulator has 240 days from the start of the review process.

Earlier, Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas assessed the probability of launching a spot Bitcoin ETF by the end of 2023 at 75%. The experts increased the odds after the legal victory of Grayscale in the lawsuit against the SEC.

Earlier, former SEC lawyer John Reed Stark ruled out approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. However, Bernstein experts assessed the chances of a new wave of bidders as high.

Marathon Digital’s CEO Fred Thiel is bullish about the outlook, and Tom Lee, co-founder of Fundstrat, predicted substantial gains for digital gold if the applications are approved.