SEC officials meet again with spot Bitcoin ETF filers

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has held a new round of discussions with asset managers proposing a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, this time with officials from Gary Gensler’s office participating in the meetings.

Based on court filings, the regulator received representatives from BlackRock on Dec. 14 to discuss the proposed rule change that would enable the crypto investment vehicle to be traded on major exchanges. According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Jayme Seyffart, this is the third meeting between BlackRock and the SEC to review the application.

Meetings between asset managers and the SEC had intensified over the previous weeks. On Dec. 8, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton also sat down with regulators to go over their applications, a day after representatives of Fidelity appeared before the SEC.

BlackRock met again with the SEC yesterday. This time with Gensler’s people/staff https://t.co/cjQ8ChxlBV pic.twitter.com/shDiZPidPe

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) December 15, 2023

In late November, chair Gensler’s staff also met with the Hashdex team to address concerns over market manipulation and investor protections. Specifically, the discussion focused on the use of cash creations and redemptions, as well as the acquisition of spot Bitcoin from physical exchanges within the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) market, Cointelegraph has learned.

Several large asset managers are planning to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs, including WisdomTree, BlackRock, Invesco, Fidelity, and Grayscale. Over the years, the SEC has denied similar proposals. Now, the regulator is pushing its next decisions to early January, when most applicants’ latest deadlines will expire.

Upon approval, the biggest cryptocurrency will trade on Wall Street’s major exchanges, opening up Bitcoin to a broader audience of investors backed by the world’s most influential investment firms. If denied, investment managers will likely appeal the ruling, which will prolong the waiting even further.

A spot Bitcoin ETF directly tracks the real-time market price of Bitcoin, holding actual Bitcoin. Its value reflects the current price of BTC under its ownership. Conversely, a futures Bitcoin ETF invests in Bitcoin futures contracts, which are agreements on the future price of Bitcoin, rather than holding the cryptocurrency itself. The SEC approved the first futures Bitcoin ETF in 2021.

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