Spot Bitcoin ETFs: A week of high stakes and expectations

Need to know everything that’s happening around spot Bitcoin ETF approvals? Here is the latest news on daily trends and events surrounding the anticipated ruling.

After a dramatic false start on Jan. 9, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has now given the green light to several spot Bitcoin ETFs. 

First spot Bitcoin ETF in US begins trading in pre-market with double-digit gains

BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust with ticker symbol IBIT started trading in the pre-market and is currently up by 22.25%, trading at $26.81. The iShares trust is listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

Apart from BlackRock, Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) ETF was another spot BTC ETF to begin trading in the pre-market at press time. The GBTC shares were up by 2% during the pre-market trading hours. GBTC is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

SEC bent rules for spot Bitcoin ETF approvals — Commissioner Uyeda

While SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda voted in favor of the landmark approvals of the Bitcoin ETF applications, he published a statement revealing “strong concerns” with three aspects of the approval order. He said:

“The flawed reasoning in the [spot Bitcoin ETF] Approval Order could reverberate for years to come.”

According to Uyeda, the SEC missed out on the opportunity to treat Bitcoin like any other commodity. Instead, the commission historically singled out the Bitcoin ETFs after they failed to satisfy its novel “significant size” test.

Spot Bitcoin ETF receives official approval from the SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has officially approved the United States’ first regulated spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) — just one day after a false announcement posted from the SEC’s official Twitter account wreaked havoc on markets.

The historic approval paves the way for the first regulated exchange-traded product in the U.S. to give investors direct exposure to the price of Bitcoin without requiring them to buy it or worry about self-custody.

Spot Bitcoin ETF approval is expected between 4:00 pm ET and 6:00 pm ET on Wednesday, Balchunas says

The community is celebrating the day of potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States, as many analysts expect the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to finally approve several such ETFs today.

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the SEC will likely issue the approvals between 4:00 pm ET (9:00 pm UTC) and 6:00 PM EST (11:00 PM UTC). Following the approvals, the first spot Bitcoin ETFs are anticipated to start trading as soon as Thursday, Jan. 11, according to the analyst.

Happy ETF Approval Day (for real this time) to all those who celebrate.. as far as we know it's ALL SYSTEMS GO. Most likely is we see formal approvals ballpark 4-6pm today with the Derby starting on Thursday. We are ready at Bloomberg, getting DES pages up as we speak. pic.twitter.com/sh8aoYypdg

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 10, 2024

The anticipation by analysts like Balchunas comes amid concerns that potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF in the U.S. could be delayed another time due to a scandal with the SEC’s X (formerly Twitter) posting fake ETF approval news on Jan. 9, with the agency citing a hack of its social media account.

While some suggested the SEC could use the recent unauthorized post as an excuse to delay an ETF approval, most saw it as a remote possibility.

Bitcoin briefly tumbled below $45,000 amid looming ETF decision by SEC

Bitcoin continued facing sharp volatility amid the looming ETF decision by the SEC. BTC price briefly slipped below $45,000 at 08:00 am ET (01:00 pm UTC). According to data from CoinGecko, BTC price tumbled to as low as $44,600, posting a 5% drop. 

The price of Bitcoin has been also on the decline over the past 24 hours. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $45,082, down around

According to CoinGecko, Bitcoin is still up around 6% over the past seven days. The cryptocurrency is 51% down from its all-time high of $68,000 posted in November 2021.

The article collates the most significant new events around the spot Bitcoin ETF approval.