In light of the recent mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may be preparing for a high-level discussion on revisiting the Grayscale application for approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF.
The SEC has scheduled a closed meeting that will involve various officials, including Commissioners, Counsel to the Commissioners, the Secretary to the Commission, and recording secretaries. The purpose of this meeting is to review settlement and resolution claims. The decision to hold this closed meeting follows the expiration of the deadline to appeal against the court order on August 29, 2023, which favored the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Furthermore, on October 23, 2023, the Court ordered the SEC to reconsider the Grayscale ETF decision, emphasizing the similarities between Grayscale’s proposal and the already approved Bitcoin futures ETFs.
The closed meeting will cover several topics, including the institution and settlement of injunctive actions, administrative proceedings, litigation claims resolution, and other matters related to examinations and enforcement proceedings. It remains to be seen whether the SEC will seek an extension from the Court before making a decision during this meeting. The passing of the October 13, 2023 deadline has already set the stage for a time-bound approval process for the first-ever spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.
While the general market opinion suggests that the SEC will approve all existing spot ETF filings simultaneously, the Grayscale application holds an advantage in terms of timeline due to the court order in August 2023 dismissing the SEC’s argument against approving the ETF filing. Previously, there were positive comments from Mike Novogratz, CEO of Galaxy Digital, who stated on October 18, 2023, that the Bitcoin spot ETF is expected to receive approval from the SEC sometime in 2023.