In a recent update, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) clarified that it has not approved any spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) yet. This clarification came in response to a misleading post on a certain platform, which was incorrectly attributed to the SEC’s official account and even included a fictitious quote from SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
This post temporarily caused a spike in Bitcoin’s price, as investors have been eagerly anticipating the SEC’s approval of several Bitcoin ETFs, potentially as soon as this week.
The @SECGov twitter account was compromised, and an unauthorized tweet was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.
— Gary Gensler (@GaryGensler) January 9, 2024
Chairman Gensler, through his personal account on the same platform, debunked the post, confirming that the SEC has not made any final decisions. About a dozen companies have filed applications to list Bitcoin-backed ETFs in the United States. The SEC has a deadline of January 10 to make a decision on at least one of these applications, and there is widespread speculation in the cryptocurrency community that the regulator may announce multiple decisions at the same time.
Two critical regulatory steps must be completed before a spot-backed Bitcoin ETF can be launched. First, the SEC must approve the 19b-4 filings by the exchanges that intend to list these ETFs. Second, the regulator must approve the S-1 forms, which are the registration documents from the potential issuers, a group that includes major players like BlackRock and Fidelity.
The SEC is expected to vote on the exchange filings, the 19b-4s, within the week. The agency might also address the issuer applications, the S-1s, around the same period. Should the SEC grant both sets of necessary approvals, the ETFs could start trading as soon as the next business day.