What to know as an SEC decision on spot bitcoin ETFs looms

Amendments to 19b-4 documents — filed by stock exchanges that would list the fund shares — could come Friday, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst says

article-image

Master1305/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

You’ve probably heard that the Securities and Exchange Commission could soon greenlight ETFs that hold bitcoin directly. 

Such an approval would be a first for the US regulator.

Read more: The decade-long road to (possible) spot bitcoin ETF approval

The SEC has a Jan. 10 deadline to rule on one planned spot bitcoin ETF in particular: the fund proposed by Ark Invest and 21Shares. This is because they were the first — among the latest wave of 2023 filings — to re-submit an application for such a fund

BlackRock entered the race to launch a spot bitcoin ETF in June, starting a cascade of new and renewed efforts from a dozen or so issuers.

Analysts expect the regulator could rule on the Ark-21Shares and BlackRock ETFs — as well as others by Fidelity, Bitwise, Invesco, Grayscale and others — at the same time. In the case of approval, lumping together a handful of decisions would prevent giving any one spot bitcoin ETF issuer a first-mover advantage. 

Though the SEC could publish its ruling at any time, some industry watchers had predicted a decision between Jan. 8 and Jan. 10. This three-day window was highlighted in part because of moves made by the SEC to collect public feedback on certain planned ETFs until Jan. 5.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart doubled down on his estimate of an SEC decision next week in a Thursday X post

What needs to happen before possible launches

A number of documents were filed in the bids to launch spot bitcoin ETFs. 

Issuers have published Form S-1s, or registration statements, with details about how the fund would operate, its investment strategies and other details. Grayscale was eligible to use the S-3 form — a similar simplified document — in part because GBTC became an SEC reporting company in January 2020.

Fund groups have been amending these registration statements in recent weeks — revealing authorized participants, fees and specifics around creation and redemption models, for example.

Read more: Fees, seeds and APs: What we know — and don’t know — about the planned bitcoin ETFs

More updates to S-1s, and Grayscale’s S-3 could be coming, as it appears issuers will look to respond to any SEC comments.

https://twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1742989633561190454 

Another required filing for the spot bitcoin ETFs is a 19b-4, which is used to document a proposed rule change with the SEC. These were submitted, in this case, by the exchange on which each proposed ETF would trade.

The Ark 21Shares Bitcoin ETF would trade on the Cboe BZX Exchange. Meanwhile, Nasdaq has filed 19b-4s on behalf of BlackRock and Valkyrie, and NYSE Arca has filed such documents for planned funds by Grayscale, Hashdex and Bitwise.

Seyffart noted that amendments to these 19b-4s could come Friday, such as updates regarding creation and redemption model specifics for the proposed ETFs.

Loading Tweet..

Various amendments to S-1s indicate that various issuers are going with cash creations and redemptions. This means authorized participants — tasked with creating and redeeming shares of an ETF — would exchange those shares for cash, rather than for a basket of securities reflecting the ETF holdings.

Other documents filed recently include 8-A forms, which are used to register securities. The latest to do so include Fidelity on Wednesday and Grayscale on Thursday. 

“An issuer can register a security, but approved 19b-4 and effective S-1 still needed to be in place to launch an ETF/ETP,” Gabor Gurbacs, VanEck’s director of digital assets strategy, said in a Wednesday X post.

A source familiar with the spot bitcoin ETF filings told Blockworks the SEC could approve a 19b-4 and deem an S-1 form effective at different times. 

An SEC spokesperson said the regulator does not comment on individual filings.

“Broadly speaking, if the commission declares a registration statement effective, that is reflected on EDGAR,” the representative told Blockworks in an email. “Any commission 19b-4 orders will be posted on our website and then published in the Federal Register.”


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (2).png

Research

This reports analyzes the competitive dynamics of the Solana DEX landscape, identifying sustainable moats per protocol. We also find that Raydium (RAY), Orca (ORCA), and Lifinity (LFNTY) are valued very similarly on a P/S basis and what this could mean for Meteroa's (MET) valuation, which is still pre-TGE.

article-image

With $800 million now flowing to creditors, some expect a market boost — yet many remain cautious after years of waiting

article-image

There’s more to do on Solana than memecoins, but the market isn’t seeing it that way

article-image

Galaxy’s Alex Thorn said that the saga, paired with TRUMP and MELANIA, could lead to “further destruction of the memecoin complex”

article-image

Anatoly Yakovenko in 2017 embarked on the technical challenge of solving blockchain’s scalability problem

article-image

Grayscale Investments has historically had a four-stage lifecycle for its products, but there’s an indicator this could be changing

article-image

Brian Quintenz and Jonathan Gould are two recent Cabinet nominees with ties to crypto