SEC’s first deadlines to approve 7 Bitcoin ETFs coming over the next week
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is facing its first deadlines to decide on seven spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund applications, with the latest being Sept. 4 amid its defeat to Grayscale Investments in a U.S. federal appeals court.
Investment firm Bitwise will learn if its ETF will win the SEC’s approval on Sept. 1 while BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco and Wisdomtree will all be awaiting the SEC’s decision for their funds by Sept. 2, according to several SEC filings.
Meanwhile, Valkyrie is set to hear back from the SEC on Sept. 4.
The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 29 that the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF was “arbitrary and capricious” — but this doesn’t mean the SEC must approve Grayscale’s application or others in the future, says Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.
In an Aug. 29 Bloomberg interview, Seyffart explained that Grayscale’s win “definitely” increases the odds of a successful outcome for the next wave of applicants.
He isn’t sure when that day may come, though, as the SEC can delay its decisions and has two more proposed deadlines for each fund before being forced to make a final decision on the 240th-day post-filing.
For the awaiting applicants, the final deadlines for the SEC are all in mid-March next year.
99.99999% of the world doesn’t know that the SEC has to decide on 7 BTC ETFs within the next 3 days:
-blackrock
-bitwise
-vaneck
-wisdomtree
-invesco
-fidelity
-valkyriethe suits at our doorstep
— odin free (@odin_free) August 29, 2023
What are the SEC’s options post-Grayscale decision?
After the Aug. 29 ruling in favor of Grayscale, the regulator has 90 days to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court or apply for an en banc review — where a full circuit court can overturn a ruling made by a three-judge panel.
However, the SEC hasn’t made clear what its next move will be.
If the SEC doesn’t appeal the court will need to specify how its ruling is executed which could include instructing the SEC to approve Grayscale’s application, or at the very least revisit it.
Related: BTC price jumps to 2-week highs on Grayscale vs. SEC Bitcoin ETF win
Either way, Seyffart only saw two viable options for the regulator.
The first is for it to concede defeat and approve Grayscale’s conversion of its GBTC to a Bitcoin spot ETF.
Alternatively, the SEC would need to revoke the listing of Bitcoin futures ETFs entirely or deny Grayscale’s application based on a new argument, said Seyffart.
The second potential avenue is to deny on reasons not used before/yet… which i have been saying for months could have to do with Custody or settlement of #Bitcoin which is not something that futures ETFs have to worry about. SEC has made a lot of noise around custodians
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) August 29, 2023
However, fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas considered the odds of the SEC revoking the Bitcoin futures ETFs as “highly unlikely” because of the SEC’s reported openness to Ethereum futures ETFs.
Lol, this guy turned the last paragraph of Judge Rao’s legal smackdown today into an MGMT-esque sythe banger. Really captures the mood rn, well done.. https://t.co/BBJZR5O6To
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 29, 2023
Magazine: Hall of Flame: Wolf Of All Streets worries about a world where Bitcoin hits $1M
The election of a pro-crypto President in the United States and growing macroeconomic turmoil will continue to drive investors to Bitcoin.
Politics
Sir Keir Starmer vows to defend budget decisions ‘all day long’ as farmers slam ‘disrespectful’ PM
Sir Keir Starmer has said he will defend the decisions made in the budget “all day long” amid anger from farmers over inheritance tax changes.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced last month in her key speech that from April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% applied to other land and property.
The announcement has sparked anger among farmers who argue this will mean higher food prices, lower food production and having to sell off land to pay for the tax.
Sir Keir defended the budget as he gave his first speech as prime minister at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, where farmers have been holding a tractor protest outside.
Sir Keir admitted: “We’ve taken some extremely tough decisions on tax.”
He said: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality. I will defend the tough decisions that were necessary to stabilise our economy.
“And I will defend protecting the payslips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy, and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales. Finally, turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also said the budget allocation for Wales was a “record figure” – some £21bn for next year – an extra £1.7bn through the Barnett Formula, as he hailed a “path of change” with Labour governments in Wales and Westminster.
And he confirmed a £160m investment zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be going live in 2025.
‘PM should have addressed the protesters’
Among the hundreds of farmers demonstrating was Gareth Wyn Jones, who told Sky News it was “disrespectful” that the prime minister did not mention farmers in his speech.
He said “so many people have come here to air their frustrations. He (Starmer) had an opportunity to address the crowd. Even if he was booed he should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people”.
He said farmers planned to deliver Sir Keir a letter which begins with “‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you”.
Farmers’ tractor protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News the government was “destroying” an industry that was already struggling.
“They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically. We need government support not more hindrance so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
He said inheritance tax changes will result in farmers increasing the price of food: “The poorer people in society aren’t going to be able to afford good, healthy, nutritious British food, so we have to push this to government for them to understand that enough is enough, the farmers can’t take any more of what they’re throwing at us.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
“Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
On Friday, Sir Keir addressed farmers’ concerns, saying: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.
“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland to the £1m that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3m before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.”
Read more:
Ex-Labour adviser suggests doing to farms ‘what Thatcher did to coal mines’
Farmers ‘could block ports and disrupt food supply’
Welsh farmer Gareth Wyn Jones
Ministers said the move will not affect small farms and is aimed at targeting wealthy landowners who buy up farmland to avoid paying inheritance tax.
But analysis this week said a typical family farm would have to put 159% of annual profits into paying the new inheritance tax every year for a decade and could have to sell 20% of their land.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The Country and Land Business Association (CLA), which represents owners of rural land, property and businesses in England and Wales, found a typical 200-acre farm owned by one person with an expected profit of £27,300 would face a £435,000 inheritance tax bill.
The plan says families can spread the inheritance tax payments over 10 years, but the CLA found this would require an average farm to allocate 159% of its profits each year for a decade.
To pay that, successors could be forced to sell 20% of their land, the analysis found.
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