On Thursday, it was announced that the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) is delaying its decision on seven Bitcoin (BTC) ETF or exchange fund applications, including Blackrock’s. This decision was already imminent and therefore comes as no surprise.
This decision by the SEC should not be cause for pessimism either. One former SEC chairman, John Clayton, even thinks a Bitcoin exchange fund is inevitable. He expressed himself in an interview with the American television channel CNBC.
A bitcoin exchange fund is ‘inevitable’
Clayton bases this optimism on, among other things, the recent court ruling in the case between Grayscale and the SEC. The judge ruled that the SEC failed to adequately reason why it denied Grayscale’s application to convert the major Bitcoin fund into an ETF.
Clayton also expresses confidence in the major money managers that have applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF. Managers such as Blackrock, Fidelity and Ark Invest are well-known names in US and global finance.
“Obviously, bitcoin is not a security. It is a product that individual investors want access to and some of our most trusted institutions wish to offer this product to the public. Approval is inevitable.”
“It is clear that #Bitcoin is not security. It’s something that retail investors want to have access to and, more importantly, some of our most trusted providers want to bring this product to the retail audience,” says Jay Clayton, Fmr. SEC Chairman. “Approval is inevitable.” pic.twitter.com/gwHoQkFoxw
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) September 1, 2023
Regulator Postpones BTC ETF Decisions
Such clear language from the former chairman of the SEC. Also ETF expert Eric Balchunas von Bloomberg shares Clayton’s optimism. In an analysis, he gives a 75 percent chance of Bitcoin ETF approval this year. If it doesn’t happen this year, it almost certainly will in 2024. According to Balchunas, there is a 95 percent chance that there will be a Bitcoin ETF before the end of 2024.
As previously mentioned, the SEC delayed its decision on seven BTC exchange fund applications on Thursday. The next regulatory deadline is October 17. However, the SEC is expected to postpone the election again at this point. The final deadline for the SEC is early 2024.
