The SEC’s window to greenlight a spot Bitcoin ETF is closing. What’s next?

Happy Friday!

For a short period, the US Securities and Exchange Commission had a chance, for the first time since Grayscale’s courtroom victory, to give the nod to all spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund applications at once.

It chose otherwise.

Let’s dive into it.

Missed deadline

The SEC shot down an opportunity to approve all spot Bitcoin ETF applications at once when it delayed the Hashdex application on November 15.

Bloomberg Intelligence ETF expert Eric Balchunas says that doesn’t really matter.

“That whole eight-day window got misinterpreted,” Balchunas told DL News. “That window could pass, and all it means is that the SEC is going to have to delay another filing. But they had a window where they would have no comment periods.”

The legal window — originally from November 8 to November 17 — was previously identified by Balchunas and fellow Bloomberg Intelligence ETF expert James Seyffart.

“I’ve always said this: We’re going to wake up one day, in a couple of weeks, it might be a month — I’ll just call it the short term — to news that the 19b-4s were approved,” added Balchunas.

ETF issuers must get their S-1 forms signed off by the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance, while their 19b-4 filings are handled by the regulator’s Trading and Markets Division.

The forms are essential steps for the application, and eventual launch, of an ETF product.

“Both of those [divisions] report to Gary Gensler,” said Balchunas. “So if Trading and Markets approves, we’re home free, and the S-1 might be another month after that. But it’s that initial approval, the 19b-4s that… We’re just going to wake up one day to the news.”

“I wouldn’t read too much into the eight-day window.”

Balchunas and Seyffart previously said the SEC will likely greenlight all applications at once to avoid playing “kingmaker” and give an unfair advantage to some products over the others.

Crypto market movers

• Bitcoin is down 1.6% over the last 24 hours, declining to $36,507.
• Ethereum slumped by 4% in the same period, at $1,968.
• Polygon and Solana are both down 7%.

What we’re reading

• OKX’s first blockchain didn’t go so well. Here’s why it’s trying again — DL News
• Best NFT Tax Loss Harvesting Tools 2023 — Milk Road
• Could the Bank Secrecy Act Harm Crypto? Coin Center Thinks So — Unchained
• Solana protocol Jupiter will airdrop tokens to nearly 1m wallets — and it’s just the beginning — DL News
• Three Charged In $10,000,000 Crypto Money Laundering Scheme: DOJ — Milk Road

Tom Carreras is a Markets Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Reach out at tcarreras@dlnews.com