The US regulatory watchdog responded with a feedback just a few hours after spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers submitted fee details in their updated S-1 filings.
On 8 January, prospective ETF issuers, including industry giants BlackRock, Bitwise, and Fidelity, submitted their amended S-1 filings (S-3 in Grayscale’s case) to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) .
The SEC commented on certain details in these documents about the ETF’s proposed fees.
The regulator currently has a total of 14 spot Bitcoin ETF applications on its desk with deadlines fast-approaching this week. The first in the line is Ark/21Shares ETF, which expects a decision on 10 January.
However, its quick response to the fee submissions sparked debate on the approval timeline ahead of the deadline. While some questioned whether the fast feedback was a possible sign of delay, many experts like Bloomberg’s James Seyffart thought otherwise.
Seyffart does not necessarily see these comments as delay signals, even though the rapid response from SEC is quite deviant of the its usual habits. On top of that, these comments addressed only minor details which should not affect the approval timeline.
“This just shows how quickly the SEC is turning these things around. Borderline unheard of to send over a document to the SEC in the morning and get comments back the same day”, added Seyffart.
According to him, if the SEC wanted to delay, the issuers wouldn’t have gotten comments back this soon.
Fox Business’ Eleanor Terrett also saw it as procedural steps rather than indications of a delay in the ETF approval process. She spoke with individuals who received additional comments and reiterated their confidence saying:
Industry leaders forecast on the ETFs
The week also featured a notable statement from Jay Clayton, the former SEC chair, who declared the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF as ‘inevitable’ in a CNBC interview.
Clayton expressed confidence that these eagerly awaited funds are set for approval, highlighting that all critical decisions have already been made. He underscored the importance of this development, noting its significance not just for Bitcoin but for the financial sector at large.
Banking giant, Standard Chartered, has also made a bullish projection for the top coin. It anticipates the cryptocurrency potentially soaring to almost $200,000 by the end of 2025.
The forecast is largely based on the expected success and approval of Bitcoin ETFs in the US. It is rooted in the belief that these ETFs could draw substantial inflows, estimated between $50-100 billion in 2024.
Bitcoin tops $47K
In this background, Bitcoin ($BTC) managed to revive its bullish rally, taking its price to touch $47,000 yesterday.
Bitcoin has remained below the $47,000 threshold for nearly 20 months, last exceeding this level on 3 April 2022, when it peaked at $47,458. Following this high, the cryptocurrency entered an extended bear market, culminating in a significant decline to a low of $15,600.
At the time of press, the top coin was down from this level, but was changing hands for $46,720 on the back of a 5.8% daily rise. This helped $BTC to continue its trade in the green.
Technical indicators remained in the bullish zones for Bitcoin. Both Awesome Oscillator (AO) and Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) were seen with green histograms on their respective charts.
However, volatility could be on the high as the Bollinger Bands were seen widening, moving away from each other at press time.
Bitcoin’s surge also propelled the broader cryptocurrency market, which rose by over 5% in the last 24 hours. Other leading coins, like Ethereum ($ETH) and Solana ($SOL) also enjoyed bullish pressure, taking it up by 3.3% and 11.2%, respectively.
