These are minimal changes that should not affect the approval process, which should at least be accepted by the ARK ETF and 21Shares tomorrow, given that January 10 is the final date by which a decision will have to be made on that particular application.
As the January 10 deadline for approval of several Bitcoin spot ETFs approaches, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has made a notable move by submitting new comments on S filings. -1 updated just a few hours after its presentation.
Such quick response from the SEC has sparked debate within the crypto community about the potential implications for the approval timeline for Bitcoin ETFs.
Will Bitcoin ETFs Be Delayed?
Perianne Boring, founder and CEO of the Digital Chamber of Commerce, expressed concern about the SEC’s actions, suggesting they could be a sign of delay. She posted the following:
“SPOT BITCOIN ETF UPDATE: The SEC just issued additional comments on the applicant’s pending S-1s. This is a sign of delay.”
However, this opinion is not universally shared. Bloomberg ETF expert James Seyffart provided a more nuanced perspective. He said that “comments are back on the S-1 documents that were filed Monday morning with the rates everyone wanted to see.”
Seyffart expects to see more amendments tomorrow because of this. “That said, I don’t think this is necessarily a sign of delay. Really, this just shows how quickly the SEC is changing these things. It’s almost unheard of to submit a document to the SEC in the morning and receive comments the same day (I think). “If they wanted to delay it, the issuers would not have received comments tonight,” the expert said.
Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, after speaking with some of the parties involved, also reported a general feeling of confidence. “I just spoke to a couple of people who received additional feedback. They say they are not worried and the SEC has not communicated any change in plans. My sense is that they are pretty sure this is just part of the process to get everything ready by January 10,” Terrett said.
Despite initial concerns, Perianne hopes for a positive outcome: “After reading comments from people like James Seyffart and Eleanor Terrett, I hope I am wrong in my interpretation. BUT I am concerned that the SEC has more tools at its disposal to block spot bitcoin ETFs from coming to market. President Gensler does not want to go down without a fight. I look forward to a successful launch this week.”
No Need for S-1s to Be Complete
Scott Johnsson, a financial lawyer at Davis Polk, pointed to the unusual speed of the SEC’s response. Additionally, he reminded the community that S-1s do not need to be complete when 19b-4s are approved.
“Take futures ETFs in 2022. Hashdex didn’t even receive initial feedback until its 19b-4 was approved. More than anything, these quick comments show that the SEC is working to push everything toward a quick approval and launch (compared to what we saw with futures),” Johnsson said.
Further investigation also reveals that the comments addressed minor details in the amended S-1 forms rather than significant changes, suggesting they should not affect the timeline for potential approval by the regulator. Prominent issuers including BlackRock, Fidelity, Bitwise, Ark and Grayscale had announced their expected fees in filings filed on Monday.
Monday’s comments also indicate that SEC officials continue to engage in dialogue with potential ETF issuers. While a delay seems possible, it seems pretty unlikely at this point.
By Audy Castaneda
