With less than a day left to go on the deadline for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to either approve or deny the first Spot Bitcoin ETF in the country, various experts have come forward to share their thoughts on what the regulator might do. One of those who have chipped in their two cents is former SEC chairman Jay Clayton who believes that the Spot ETF is a matter of when and not if.
Spot Bitcoin ETF Is Inevitable
The former SEC chairman joined CNBC on its famous ‘Squawk Box’ show where he shared his expectations for the 13 pending Bitcoin Spot ETF applications with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Unlike some who have taken a more conservative stance, Clayton has chosen to go the route of absolute certainty.
According to the former chairman, the regulator has nothing left to deliberate on when it comes to these Spot ETF applications. So in this case, Clayton expects that the SEC would actually move to approve the ETF applications rather than decline them.
Clayton who has been in the crypto industry for at least two years now after leaving the regulator explains that things have changed from five years ago when the regulator had rejected Spot ETF applications when he was he office. He alludes to the rejection being due to the fact that “there was wash sales, there was laddering, there was all sorts of things that you wouldn’t want to make available to the general public.”
However, with the new applicants being major players in the finance industry at large and doing their due diligence, Clayton sees no reason why the regulator would have to deny a spot ETF. “I think approval’s inevitable, and I think there’s nothing left to decide,” Clayton stated.
Applicants Follow SEC Recommendations To The Letter
One unique thing about this set of Spot Bitcoin ETF applicants is how they have followed up on the SEC’s recommendations for their filings. Applicants have amended their filings multiple times in the last few months, with the latest being updated S-1 filings by all applicants except Hashdex. This shows a commitment by the applicants to actually abide by the rules and ensure the Spot ETFs are well-crafted for investors.
Interestingly, Clayton isn’t the only one who believes that the SEC will have no choice but to approve a Spot Bitcoin ETF. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart also believes that the regulator would not be able to make applicants withdraw their applications.
Seyffart explained that the SEC has been backed into a corner and has no more reasons to give for denying a Spot Bitcoin ETF. This comes in the wake of the court ruling that the SEC did not have sufficient reason to deny Grayscale’s request to turn its Bitcoin Trust into a Spot ETF.
Legal expert James Murphy has said that in the event that the SEC does reject the Spot ETF applications, then he expects all of the applicants to sue the regulator. If this happens, Murphy believes that the SEC would lose again as the court would determine its decision as “arbitrary and capricious.”