Valkyrie Investments’ chief investment officer (CIO), Steven McClurg, believes the US Securities and Exchange Commission will finally approve exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin this month.
Spot ETFs To Hit The U.S. Market This Month?
Amid all the current developments surrounding the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a top executive at crypto asset manager Valkyrie predicts that an ETF product — which investors have been waiting on for over 10 years — could get the regulatory nod this month.
Valkyrie’s Steven McClurg claims that the SEC is likely to issue another round of comments in the coming weeks, with approval coming before the end of this month. While McClurg anticipates the SEC to sign off in November, any Bitcoin ETF won’t likely start trading until February 2024:
“Before anything else happens, we get a second round of comments, and I believe we’ll probably get those comments in the next one to three weeks. A late November approval likely means a February launch.”
Valkyrie recently tweaked its spot Bitcoin ETF filing with the regulator, joining at least six recently amended spot BTC ETF applications submitted by Bitwise, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, VanEck, and ARK Invest.
What Would A Spot BTC ETF Approval Mean For Crypto Industry?
Bitcoiners usually view a spot Bitcoin ETF as a hallmark of institutional acceptance and incorporation into mainstream financial systems, and they expect the approval of such an investment vehicle to cause the market cap and price of BTC to go through the roof.
Notably, BTC has been riding high in recent weeks. In late October, the flagship crypto soared to $31,000 on optimism that spot Bitcoin ETFs will soon be greenlighted in the US. Prices have continued to increase, recently springing to a 17-month high above $35,000. According to CoinGecko, the coin is sitting at around $34,719 at press time.
Investment research firm Bernstein recently forecasted that, given the high possibility of a spot Bitcoin ETF’s approval, the cryptocurrency could reach $150,000 by 2025. If it comes to pass, Bernstein’s lofty prediction would represent a tremendous turnaround for the benchmark crypto from its steep decline last year.