SEC Postpones Decision on Hashdex Spot Bitcoin ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has postponed its decision on the approval of Hashdex Bitcoin ETF and Grayscale Ethereum Futures Trust ETF.

The SEC published a document that addresses to the deferral of Hashdex’s filing. Hashdex previously filed to convert its current Bitcoin Futures ETF (DEFI), listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and sponsored by Teucrium Trading, to a spot Bitcoin ETF. If approved, Hashdex Bitcoin ETF will be the first U.S. exchange-traded fund that invests directly in Bitcoin.

According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the SEC had until Nov.17 to make a decision on Hashdex Bitcoin ETF. The SEC now announces the new decision deadline to be Jan. 1, 2024, and expects to provide more updates then.

The approval decision of Grayscale’s Ethereum Futures Trust (ETH) ETF has also been delayed to Jan.1, 2024.

Spot bitcoin ETF approval *could* come this week…

Here’s my attempt to briefly summarize the situation that @JSeyff was all over.

h/t @SGJohnsson pic.twitter.com/whAAiHxwaZ

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) November 13, 2023

Though there have been speculations about the approvals, including the analysis by the Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart and The ETF Store president Nate Geraci. Yet again Hashdex’s and Grayscale’s filings were deferred, like numerous other ETF filings.

SEC’s Concern about Spot Bitcoin ETF

In 2021, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that “the markets for actual Bitcoin itself today are largely unregulated” and “this lack of regulatory oversight and surveillance leads to concerns about the potential for fraud and manipulation.” The authorities are also concerned about the unconventional volatility of cryptocurrencies.

As the regulatory body proceeds with caution, looking out for surveillance gaps, financial institutions like BlackRock have also been considering including additional safety nets to its ETF filing and operation. Earlier in June, BlackRock filed for a Bitcoin ETF and planned to have Coinbase Custody as its Bitcoin custodian. Coinbase, on the other hand, is the only publicly traded and spot-crypto exclusive U.S. exchange. BlackRock has also filed for its Ethereum ETF.