The folks at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are setting up a tense week in October for those who awaiting the launch of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products.

Gary Gensler U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair

Yesterday, SEC staffers filed to delay making decisions on at least six proposed spot bitcoin ETPs. The regulatory agency's team specifically stalled yesterday on proposals from Bitwise, Fidelity, Invesco, Valkyrie, VanEck, and WisdomTree. And Bloomberg reports that the SEC also deferred making a decision on BlackRock's proposal, according to a BlackRock spokesperson. The SEC also reportedly made a similar delay on August 11 regarding Ark's proposal.

These new bitcoin ETP decision deferrals, combined with Grayscale's court victory against the SEC earlier this week, mean that the SEC's mid-October 2023 decisionmaking calendar (at least when it comes to the bitcoin ETP debate) looks like this:

October 13 - the deadline to appeal a federal appellate court's order to re-review the proposed transformation of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF listed on the NYSE Arca;

October 16 - the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of the proposed Bitwise Bitcoin ETP Trust for launch on the NYSE Arca;

October 17 - the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of the proposed Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF for launch on the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.;

October 17 - also the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of the proposed VanEck Bitcoin Trust for launch on the Cboe BZX;

October 17 - also the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of the proposed WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust for launch on the Cboe BZX;

October 17 - also the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of Fidelity's proposed Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust for launch on the Cboe BZX; and

October 19 - the deadline to approve, disapprove, or further delay consideration of the proposed Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund for launch on the Nasdaq.

The SEC staff will likely face similar deadlines soon related to consideration of BlackRock's proposed iShares Bitcoin Trust (for launch on the Nasdaq) and of the proposed Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (for launch on the Cboe BZX). 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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