As I said introducing "SEC will reject all bitcoin spot ETFs in January, says Matrixport analyst":
I have no idea what Gensler & Co. will decide but until this article had not seen the possibility of "nothing done" raised anywhere....
From Fortune, January 9:
Everyone in the crypto world has Wednesday circled on their calendar: It's the day the SEC is expected to finally approve spot Bitcoin ETFs, a vehicle that will let U.S. investors for the first time trade the popular cryptocurrency in the form of shares on a major exchange.
Steven McClurg is the cofounder and chief investment officer of Valkyrie, a crypto native asset manager that is one of a dozen-odd prospective issuers vying to sell Bitcoin ETF shares after the SEC gives the green light. Unlike other players from traditional finance vying for an early market advantage, including BlackRock and Fidelity, Valkyrie hopes its digital asset bona fides will give it an edge for investors. The firm already has two crypto ETFs: one that invests in public Bitcoin mining companies and another that invests in Bitcoin and Ether futures contracts. And in a nod to the prodigious world of crypto memes, Valkyrie chose BRRR as the ticker name for its spot Bitcoin ETF—a reference to the sound of the Federal Reserve "money printer."
On Monday, McClurg stopped by the Fortune office to talk about his opinions on the SEC, the advantages of cash versus in-kind redemption models for ETFs, and the battle over fees. A veteran of TradFi himself, McClurg offers a unique perspective as someone straddling the line between Wall Street and crypto “degens.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
We’ve reached a fever pitch with Bitcoin ETF approval. How optimistic are you feeling?
My first couple of years in college, I was a theater minor. The best way I can think about it is Waiting for Godot. That’s how I felt for the first three years of this, but now it’s come to fruition. It’s almost surreal.In the last six weeks, we’ve put massive amounts of work into it. There are a lot more hurdles in this ETF than most other ones that we’ve had to get through. We got the word that something was going to happen right before Christmas break. The communication was very simple: The SEC had a lot of papers to review. If you want to make sure that you’re in that first batch to be reviewed, make sure to have everything in by the end of the month.
So the whole team has been working through that break and last weekend. The filing today is a massive, massive milestone. And we got it done. So we’re just very excited and proud of the work.
At what point did you become optimistic that the SEC was going to approve the ETF?
Back in October, we got the very first comments on our ETF filing after three years. Things were moving. We didn’t have an idea of what the timing would be, but we knew that they were getting ready....
....MUCH MORE
