The regulator has once again postponed the review and approval of the application from the company. SEC has extended the deadlines by 45 days until January 25, as reported in the official agency notification.
In late November, Grayscale's leaders held a meeting with representatives from the SEC's Trading and Markets Division. The meeting discussed changes to the listing and trading rules of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) proposed by NYSE Arca.
Two days after the meeting, the asset manager updated the application for a spot Bitcoin ETF. The updated application noted that Grayscale plans to convert its trust fund to launch the new instrument.
A financial lawyer from the firm noted that apart from this, no significant changes were made.
SEC also postponed applications from Hashdex and Franklin Templeton companies. However, industry experts view this as a positive development. ETF analyst at Bloomberg, James Seifert, noted that the current phase of public comments entered by the companies may hint at an accelerated review process.
Swiss asset manager Pando Asset has also joined the race to launch a spot ETF. The company expressed its intention to launch the Pando Asset Spot Bitcoin Trust on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
Analysts speculate that the next opportunity for approval of the new instrument will be on January 5, in line with the earlier opinion expressed by Bloomberg experts. They still maintain that the Commission will approve all applications simultaneously on January 10 of the next year.
However, some members of the crypto community doubt that the SEC will make a decision in the coming months. Market structure issues could be an obstacle to the approval of the new instrument.
