Bitcoin headed higher towards $38,000 despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) deferred its decision on an application by Hashdex to transform its existing Bitcoin futures ETF to a spot-market one. The Wall Street regulator also gave itself a deadline extension on the Grayscale Ethereum Futures-based ETF filing.
Bitcoin Optimism Persists Despite ETF Delays
The price of Bitcoin shot past $37,000 recently, ignoring news of the SEC delaying Grayscale’s ETH futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) bid on November 15 — two days earlier than its Nov. 17 deadline.
Grayscale filed with the SEC back in September. The ETH futures ETF would let investors buy shares that bet on the future price of Ethereum, the industry’s second-largest digital asset by market value.
But the regulator said Wednesday that it “finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein”.
Similarly, Hashdex’s plan to convert its Bitcoin futures ETF into a spot vehicle was also put on hold by the SEC on Wednesday.
For years, the securities watchdog has postponed or outrightly rejected spot Bitcoin ETF applications for crypto assets. But when Wall Street giant BlackRock stepped into the ring with its spot Bitcoin ETF offering in June, it reignited industry interest around the possibility of such an investment vehicle hitting the U.S. market.
Encouraged by the juggernaut’s impressive track record of ETF approvals, other firms submitted paperwork for their own applications, most of them copying BlackRock’s strategy. Specifically, they named America’s largest crypto exchange, Coinbase, their surveillance partner of choice in a bid to reduce risks of market manipulation.
Financial services behemoth Franklin Templeton also has a Bitcoin ETF filing with a November 17 decision deadline. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart expects the SEC to also stall Franklin’s ETF. Nonetheless, Seyffart remains optimistic, citing a “pretty good chance” of spot Bitcoin approval with 90% odds by January 10, 2024.
$43,000 Next Stop For Bitcoin?
Bitcoin’s sustained bullish price action after a precipitous drop earlier this week has led some market pundits to declare an incoming bull rally. The biggest crypto by market cap was at the time of publication trading for $37,336.27, after hitting an intra-day high of $37,856 earlier today, according to CoinGecko.
Rekt Capital highlighted $37000 as an essential support price zone to retain. BTC could surge further past $43,000 in the coming weeks if it manages to hold the $37,000 level.
Other major cryptocurrencies were also up today. Solana (SOL), which has been on a roll lately, was trading at $64.21 — a 2.8% jump in the last 24 hours. SOL’s latest uptick came after ARK Invest CEO Cathie Wood praised the network for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies was up 2.9% today, touching $1.48 trillion.