The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opted to postpone its ruling on a series of proposals concerning spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
Notably, BlackRock’s ETF proposal is among those affected, and this delay comes ahead of an anticipated government shutdown.
In addition to BlackRock, the SEC has also extended the waiting period for spot Bitcoin ETF applications submitted by Invesco, Bitwise, and Valkyrie.
These postponements were officially disclosed in separate filings made on September 28.
Notably, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipates that the applications filed by Fidelity, VanEck, and WisdomTree will likely encounter similar delays at the hands of the securities regulator.
These recent delays have materialized roughly two weeks ahead of the originally scheduled second deadline.
Many applicants were expecting a response from the securities regulator between October 16 and 19. The timing of these delays appears to be closely linked to the looming prospect of a U.S. government “shutdown” set to occur on October 1.
Such an event would disrupt the functioning of the country’s financial regulators and various other federal agencies.
The root cause of these delays lies in the fact that both chambers of Congress, the House, and Senate, have yet to reach an agreement on several funding bills essential for the government’s operational activities.
To avoid a shutdown, Congress must successfully pass 12 separate full-year funding bills by the impending deadline of October 1.
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It’s important to note that this isn’t the first time the SEC has postponed spot Bitcoin ETF applications.
A similar postponement occurred in late August as the initial deadline approached. Looking ahead, the third set of deadlines for these seven firms is scheduled around mid-January.
However, they, too, may encounter further delays. Regardless, the SEC must make a definitive decision no later than mid-March.
In a related development from late August, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas revised his estimation regarding the likelihood of a spot Bitcoin ETF gaining approval by the close of 2023.
He increased the probability from an earlier estimate of 65% to 75%.
Balchunas attributed this heightened likelihood to the unanimous and decisive ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit in favor of Grayscale in their legal battle against the SEC.
Furthermore, Balchunas raised these odds to an even more optimistic 95% by the end of 2024, reflecting a growing sense of optimism regarding the potential regulatory approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
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