SEC Approves 11 Spot BTC ETFs, Trading Likely to Begin Thursday

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved proposals for 11 spot bitcoin ETFs, including those from Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex, Valkyrie, Ark 21Shares, Invesco, Fidelity, and others, on an accelerated basis.

The U.S. regulator declared effective the 19b-4 filings submitted by the New York Stock Exchange, Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets, giving these markets permission to list and offer trading in the securities as soon as Thursday.

The decision comes after months of heavy industry lobbying and a recent flurry of modified 19b-4 filings, indicating that the SEC was under increasing pressure to act. The approval allows many institutional and individual investors who previously had no access to Bitcoin to get direct access through ETFs.

“After careful review, the Commission finds that the Proposals are consistent with the Exchange Act and rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange,” according to the SEC statement.

The SEC also published a speech by Chair Gary Gensler alongside the approval. He verified the approvals but cautioned. “While we approved the listing and trading of certain spot bitcoin ETP shares today, we did not approve or endorse bitcoin. Investors should remain cautious about the myriad risks associated with bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto,” he said.

While the document approves the issuers’ 19b-4 forms, they will still need their S-1 forms to be effective for trading to start.

On Tuesday, the SEC’s official X account “compromise” resulted in a false approval post and wild bitcoin price swings. The SEC’s website went down after first releasing an approval order online on Wednesday, sparking fears of another false alarm before Gensler’s confirmation.