The Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) delay over a decision on the approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States is kindling an anticipation that the final verdict will come as a batch, impacting some major players on Wall Street, including BlackRock and Fidelity.
The pressure on the SEC to conclude on these ETFs is considerable, most especially as the approved Futures backed products are not performing on par with spot performance, which is detrimental to investors. Currently, there are eight spot Bitcoin ETF applications on the SEC’s desk from companies with over $15 trillion worth of assets managed globally. However, the regulator’s delay continues to linger, leading to a wave of expectations.
On the other side of the coin, the SEC contends that the heart of their apprehension concerning spot crypto ETFs lies around the potential market manipulation risks by large stakeholders. This inherently implicit threat of market manipulation might be mitigated if the regulator approves all eight applications concurrently. This mass approval would result in these firms exchanging trades among themselves frequently, thus reducing the chances of manipulation considerably.
While the SEC’s delay affects Bitcoin’s current performance, it’s noteworthy that the price swing around the $30,000-mark suggests that the trading and investing communities are not overly perturbed or anxious over the time the SEC is taking to make its decision.
However, the SEC still has two deadlines before a final decision can be made; the third deadline for ARK 21Shares application due by January 2022, and Valkyrie has the latest application due for January and March of the same year. The outcome of these ETFs could potentially alter the crypto investment landscape with the likelihood of over $70 billion in liquidity pouring into the Bitcoin market if approval is given.
Unveiling an investment opportunity into Bitcoin through ETFs would boost regular investors’ confidence, as they wouldn’t necessarily need to dive into the technical details of the cryptocurrency nor analyze potential risks by themselves, this with the professional support available.
In so doing, the future of Bitcoin ETFs remains a waiting game as regulatory concerns and investor anticipation continue to dominate the narrative. But given the ramifications and massive economic weight carried by these firms, the SEC’s final decision could undoubtedly reverberate throughout the entire crypto landscape.
Source: Cointelegraph
