The
United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a delay in
its decision on several proposals for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds
(ETFs). The affected applicants include financial giants like BlackRock,
Invesco, Bitwise, and Valkyrie.

SEC Postpones Review of Bitcoin
ETF Proposals

The
SEC’s decision to postpone the review process occurred two weeks ahead of the
scheduled second deadline. It was originally arranged for October 16-19. Analysts
suggest that these delays are directly tied to the looming threat of a
government shutdown in the United States. It is expected to occur on October 1
if Congress fails to pass the necessary funding bills.

The
ongoing deadlock in Congress over these bills has created a unstable situation
for federal agencies, including the SEC. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart
anticipated that similar delays will impact applications from Fidelity, VanEck,
and WisdomTree.

BREAKING: 🇺🇸 BlackRock Spot #Bitcoin ETF decision was just delayed by SEC.Gary gonna get a phone call… 😅 pic.twitter.com/AXc6CMbmqD

— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) September 28, 2023

SEC’s Ultimatum: Mid-March
Deadline for Bitcoin ETF Decisions

In
late August, the SEC already delayed a group of spot Bitcoin ETF applicants as the initial cutoff point approached. The affected companies are now facing a third set of deadlines
around mid-January, which could potentially be extended as well. The SEC’s
ultimate decision on the ETFs must be made by mid-March at the very latest.

Eric
Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, has revised his predictions for the
approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. In late August, he estimated a 75% probability
of approval by the end of 2023, which is up from an earlier estimate of 65%. Balchunas
attributed this increased likelihood to the U.S. Court of Appeals Circuit’s
decisive ruling in favor of Grayscale in its legal battle against the SEC.

Balchunas
has now raised his odds to a staggering 95% for approval by the end of 2024.
This latest delay by the SEC may be seen as a sign that regulatory clarity and
approval for spot Bitcoin
ETFs in the United States is increasingly likely in the near future.

Market
participants and cryptocurrency
investors will continue to watch closely as developments unfold in both the
SEC’s decision-making process and the ongoing negotiations in Congress. It has
the potential to significantly impact the fate of these highly anticipated
Bitcoin ETFs.

This article was written by Tareq Sikder at www.financemagnates.com.