Bitcoin’s price meanders in response to official spot ETF approval

Bitcoin’s market performance was muted Wednesday afternoon as traders and analysts digested news that the SEC has approved 11 bitcoin ETFs

article-image

Monica Martini/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Bitcoin and crypto-related stocks traded mostly sideways before taking a turn lower Wednesday evening. 

This shift, albeit a muted one, in market behavior occurred as investors parsed through more mixed signals from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bitcoin (BTC) inched slightly lower and subsequently erased its gains on Wednesday afternoon. This market shift followed an incident where a document, claiming eleven bitcoin ETFs had been approved, briefly appeared and then disappeared from the SEC’s website around 3:45 pm ET.

The cryptocurrency hovered between $45,000 and $46,000 from around 3:30 pm ET to 4:30 pm ET before plummeting 2%. 

About 30 minutes later, the notice reappeared on the SEC’s SRO page, confirming that the ruling was true, alongside a statement from SEC Chair Gary Gensler, in which the agency head expressed his typical skepticism about the asset class. 

“While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin,” Gensler said. “Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.” 

Ether (ETH), on the other hand soared, gaining as much as 10% Wednesday afternoon before paring gains slightly to trade around 7% higher. 

Coinbase, which will serve as the custodian for eight of the eleven products, saw its stock price end the trading session in the red and dip lower during after-hours trading. COIN was down about 0.5% after hours at time of publication.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

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.

Industry City | 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.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

Silk Road founder Ulbricht made a triumphant return to the Bitcoin Conference, 10 years on from sentencing

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at who could take up some of the marketshare in the launchpad space

article-image

Business-to-business stablecoin payments are on the rise, per a report from Artemis, Dragonfly and Castle Island

article-image

Crypto continues to do its thing: incentivizing behavior

article-image

Kraken will soon offer Backed ‘xStocks’ as Solana tokens

article-image

In a unanimous decision, the US Court of International Trade has ruled that Trump’s IEEPA tariffs are unlawful