A Historic Win For The Crypto Community 

Finally, the day came, after years of anticipation and hustle, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly approved the first-ever Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). As per the reports of Reuters US SEC finally approved the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFS including Hashdex, Bitwise, and Grayscale.

Regulator’s Website Down After Announcement 

On Wednesday, the SEC finally approved the most awaited Bitcoin ETF and marked a historic event for the cryptocurrency industry, potentially opening up Bitcoin to a wider pool of investors.

On January 10, the SEC approved the 19b-4 applications from BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hasdex, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, and  Invesco Galaxy allowing the BTC ETF to be listed and traded in the exchanges.

The official website of the SEC crashed soon after the declaration of the spot Bitcoin ETF, showing excitement for the BTC ETF approval. The regulator’s website could not handle the traffic and went down. However, the overload on the website sown confusion as for a brief period, the SEC’s site let people access the document, but then it showed a ‘Page Not Found’ error. It was later restored through another URL.

On January 8, ten of the issuers announced their fee structure for their respective Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock will charge 0.2% until ETF will smash the $5 Billion mark in assets under management (AUM). Additionally, Bitwise will charge 0.24%, and on the other hand, Ark 21Shares and VanEck will charge 0.25%. Moreover, the Grayscale stands at the higher fee for BTC ETF as it will charge 1.5%.

Impact of the  Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval

At the time of writing the Bitcoin price is trading at $46,921.60 with an intra-day surge of 1.86%, the volume also increased by 24.73%. After the news, the price reached a high of approximately $47,751.00 which shows the positivity in the market regarding spot BTC ETF. 

The approval of the ETF brings Bitcoin to the mainstream and opens the door for the first regulated exchange-traded product in the United States. This means that investors can track Bitcoin’s value without owning or storing it. They will purchase parts of funds that have Bitcoin as their main component.

Key Factors That Overturned the SEC’s Denial 

The Bitcoin ETF took more than a decade for approval. Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss first applied to launch the Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust in 2013. However, the SEC always rejected proposals for spot Bitcoin ETFs, claiming that the market could be easily cheated or manipulated.

However, several factors turned the SEC’s decision in the ETF’s favor. A 2023 court ruling played a pivotal role in pushing the SEC’s hand. The court deemed the agency’s previous rejection of a Bitcoin ETF “arbitrary and capricious,” forcing them to reconsider their stance. Not only this The tireless advocacy of crypto companies and investors kept the pressure on the SEC. Their unwavering belief in the potential of Bitcoin and the need for regulated access ultimately paid off. 

Steefan George is a crypto and blockchain enthusiast, with a remarkable grasp on market and technology. Having a graduate degree in computer science and an MBA in BFSI, he is an excellent technology writer at The Coin Republic. He is passionate about getting a billion of the human population onto Web3. His principle is to write like “explaining to a 6-year old”, so that a layman can learn the potential of, and get benefitted from this revolutionary technology.