Bloomberg Analyst Predicts SEC Will Approve Bitcoin ETFs in January

SEC is expected to approve the first spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 8-10, according to Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart.

Seyffart believes that the SEC has been strategically delaying ETF applications to approve most of them at once and avoid giving an advantage to any one issuer. This is why he is confident that the SEC will approve a batch of applications in January.

"The SEC doesn't want to pick favorites in these races, whether it's getting more assets or liquidity. ... So, if the SEC is going to approve them, it will probably approve them all at once because it doesn't want to play kingmaker," Seyffart explained.

An additional argument in favor of Bitcoin ETF approval is Grayscale's victory in court against the SEC in August. Seyffart said that the SEC is "backed into a corner by judges."

SEC Chairman Gary Gensler previously said that the agency is "rethinking its approach" to the instrument after "court decisions." He said that the regulator is currently reviewing 8 to 12 applications.

It is worth noting that on December 12, Seyffart reported that SEC officials had discussed Bitcoin ETFs with representatives of BlackRock, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and Fidelity in the past week.

Hashdex analysts have predicted that trading in the instrument will begin in the second quarter of 2024.