The Fate Of Bitcoin ETF In The Hands Of US Regulators, Crypto Community Awaits SEC Decision This Week

JAKARTA - This week is a crucial week for the crypto industry in the United States in particular and the global crypto industry in general. Because the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will decide the fate of the exchange-trained funds (ETF) Bitcoin spot. ETF is an investment product that tracks the prices of certain assets, such as stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrencies, and can be traded on stock exchanges.

Several years earlier, Bitcoin ETF applicants had tried to get approval from the SEC, but were always rejected for various reasons. Even so, this time a new hope arose as the SEC would change its stance and allow the product to be launched. This regulatorial change in attitude came after the SEC lost to a lawsuit by Grayscale Investments, one of the world's largest crypto asset managers.

According to a Bloomberg News report, Bitcoin ETF applicants will have to submit a final revision to their app until Monday morning in Washington. The SEC itself must take action on at least one of these requests until January 10 tomorrow. The crypto stakeholders speculate that the US regulator will use the date to announce a number of important decisions regarding the status of the Bitcoin spot ETF proposal.

On the other hand, there are two technical requirements that must be met before the Bitcoin spot ETF can be traded. First, the SEC must approve a 19b-4 submission by the exchange that will record the ETF. Second, regulators must approve the relevant S-1 form, namely the submission documents registered with the publisher of the proposal concerned including those from BlackRock and Fidelity.

If the SEC approves a Bitcoin spot ETF filing proposal, the ETF could start trading as soon as possible on the following working day. However, until now, the SEC representative declined to comment on the status of the app.

Impact If Bitcoin ETF Approved

Bitcoin advocates say that the ETF backed by the world's largest digital asset, BTC, will be an important moment for digital assets. Billions of dollars in funds from retail and institutional investors have the potential to flow into the crypto industry.

"The market still underestimates the potential impact of Bitcoin's approval," said Michael Anderson, co-founder of crypto venture capital firm Framework Ventures.

The SEC under the leadership of Gary Gensler and its predecessor in the Trump era, Jay Clayton, previously rejected the investment product to be launched, citing protecting investors and concerns about manipulation in the crypto market.

Speculation about Bitcoin's ETF approval has increased since August last year. At that time the SEC lost its legal feud against Grayscale Investments. The US regulator must give in to the growing pressure regarding this Bitcoin ETF product.

The potential regulatory approval triggered a 160% spike in Bitcoin price movements last year. But unfortunately, the spike is still not enough to hit an all-time high (ATH) set in November 2021, when Bitcoin hit nearly $69,000.

At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin is trading at the level of IDR 681 million per BTC. In the last 24 hours, the price of BTC has fallen 0.2 percent according to data from Coingecko.