SEC Delays Decision On ARK's BTC ETF's Filing; Timing Could Mean 'Likely Federal Shutdown': ETF Analyst

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) once again delayed its decision on the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) application of Ark/21Shares and GlobalX, the timing of which, according to an ETF analyst, may have something to do with a "likely federal government shut down."

Despite the Oct. 11 deadline for releasing its decision on some Bitcoin ETF filings, the SEC on Tuesday announced that it is delaying its decision until next year, specifically to Jan. 10, 2024, which marks the final and ultimate deadline for when the commission should approve or reject the applications.

"The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 3, and the issues raised therein," the financial regulator said.

"The Commission designates January 10, 2024, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change," the SEC added.

In addition to the ongoing bear market that investors and traders are currently navigating, the SEC's hesitation in approving Bitcoin ETF applications is putting more pressure on the price of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, the world's largest crypto asset based on market capitalization.

Following the SEC's announcement, Bitcoin dipped to $26,144.80 from its previous price of $26,292.63, underlining a 0.56% loss.

But, the timing of the announcement piqued the interest of industry experts. Among them is Bloomberg's ETF, crypto, asset management analyst James Seyffart, who aside from providing the latest update on the ETF applications, also offered his thoughts about the latest development.

According to Seyffart, the SEC's latest decision might erase all hopes that a Bitcoin ETF could get approval this year. He said that the commission might also announce a delay in its decision on other filings, including BlackRock, BitWise, among many others.

"This may put the hammer down for any hopes of an ETF approval this year. If they went on Ark/21 shares already, we may see delays on all the other filings today too? BlackRock, Bitwise, VanEck, Invesco, Wisdomtree, Fidelity & Valkyrie a all due in mid Oct," the analyst said in a post on social media platform X.

While Seyffart toyed with the possibility that the letter from Congress urging the SEC to approve the Bitcoin ETF applications may have something to do with its announcement this week, he also speculated that "in reality my base case is that we will get the "delays" on the other filings tomorrow or sometime this week and the SEC is simply getting ahead of a likely federal government shut down."

As of 3:20 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Bitcoin was trading down at $26,248.73, with a 24-hour trading volume down by 30.30% at $7,267,294,586. It represented a 0.10% decline over the past 24 hours and a 2.2% loss over the past seven days.

BTC's total circulating supply stands at 19,497,081 BTC with its value down by 0.10% at a $511,773,613,967 market cap, according to data from CoinMarketCap.