The Securities and Exchange Commision is widely expected to approve the creation and trading of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, a decision that may unleash billions of dollars into a new investment vehicle and expose a new cohort of investors to the gyrations of crypto investing.
“Happy ETF Approval Day (for real this time) to all those who celebrate,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted in a post that included an image of a “pending listing” description of the Bitwise Bitcoin ETF. The post also said he expects approval after the close of markets today. “As far as we know it’s ALL SYSTEMS GO.”
Today’s deadline for reaching a decision arrives more than a decade after the first spot bitcoin ETF application, and a day after a false tweet about the ETF’s approval added to investors’ jitters. The price of bitcoin spiked nearly 3% after a post on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s official Twitter/X account announced that the agency had approved the first spot bitcoin ETF Tuesday, before SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified in a statement that the SEC official account had been compromised.
The agency posted on Twitter/X at 4:11pm ET that they had approved the vehicles to be listed on all registered national securities exchanges. The price of bitcoin rose to about $47,914—up 2.8%. This morning it’s down 3.6% to $45,145, according to CoinDesk.
The SEC X feed had no updates this morning.
SEC False Tweet
Gensler clarified at 4:26 pm on his personal Twitter account that the SEC government tweet was false. “[A]n unauthorized tweet was posted. The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” he wrote.
The security breach on the SEC’s Twitter account comes as anticipation for a spot bitcoin ETF has reached a boiling point. While ETFs that track cryptocurrency futures have been trading since 2021, the SEC previously rejected dozens of applications for a spot bitcoin ETF on the grounds that the funds are susceptible to market manipulation and fraud. Yet after mounting pressure from investors and the agency’s loss in court to Grayscale on Aug. 29, consensus began to build in the fall that the SEC would eventually approve the funds.
Steven McClurg, the Chief Investment Officer of Valkyrie, told etf.com on Tuesday he expects the funds to be approved Wednesday and begin trading Thursday. About a dozen ETFs are poised to launch, including ones from traditional Wall Street players such as BlackRock and Fidelity.
McClurg said Tuesday he expects about $2 to $4 billion dollars flow into the newly launched ETFs this week upon launch.
With reporting by etf.com reporter Lucy Brewster.
Signup bonus from
