There has long been speculation about a new Bitcoin spot ETF being approved by January next year.
Analysts have speculated that this new ETF may turn out to be the key driving force of Bitcoin's bull run, before the halving eventually hits in April 2024.
According to some comments from SEC Chair, Gary Gensler in a recent interview with CNBC, these speculations have come alive again.
Let's see what Gensler had to say.
A while earlier in August, a federal judge ruled in favour of Grayscale, a digital asset manager, when the SEC moved to deny them the right to offer an ETF to their customers through the company's Bitcoin trust.
According to the ruling, the SEC had failed to prove that anyone would be at significant risk if Grayscale indeed offered these ETFs to its investors.
News of Grayscale's victory came as another in the long line of defeats the SEC encountered this year.
The court ruling challenged the SEC's authority to regulate spot Bitcoin ETPs and invited other asset managers to seek approval for their own ETFs.
Recently, SEC chair, Gary Gensler was interviewed by CNBC.
In the interview, Gensler mentioned that the SEC currently has about a dozen ETFs on its desk at the moment.
Gensler went further to mention that the agency has denied several ETF applications in the past, but that "recent court rulings" have forced the SEC to "take a new look" at how it views ETFs.
Gensler didn't mention Grayscale by name, or what this"new look" entails. However, analysts have interpreted it to mean that some good news may be on its way.
Instead, Gensler mentions that everything at the SEC is done "within the laws Congress has passed"
So far, about eight known asset managers have filed for ETFs including BlackRock, VanEck, Valkyrie and more.
However, the SEC continues to drag its feet when it comes to approving these ETFs, based on concerns about market manipulation and fraud, among others.
Gensler's interview with CNBC did not impress some of his critics, who accused him of being "vague and evasive" on crypto-related issues. One of these critics is U.S. Representative Bryan Steil, a member of the House Financial Services Committee.
According to a recent tweet from Steil, "[Gensler] does not want to explain his agency's aggressive regulatory approach which is pushing crypto offshore."
The SEC chair, Gary Gensler has hinted that the agency is rethinking its stance on ETFs.
This might turn out to be good news if it means that the agency will start to take a softer approach to regulating crypto. However, Gensler also did not provide any details on what his comments mean, or whether it will lead to any approvals shortly.
Meanwhile, the list of Bitcoin ETF applications continues to grow, with about a dozen applicants hoping to capitalize on the growing demand for Bitcoin.
If we see an ETF approval early enough (say, January), Bitcoin's new ATH in 2024 might surpass predictions from analysts which put it at $80,000 – $100,000.
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