Has the SEC approved BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF? There are serious doubts about the story.
- News of the SEC approving a spot Bitcoin ETF has been eagerly awaited by the crypto community.
- An unexpected story about one approval sent markets soaring.
- Last week, Bloomberg analysts predicted a 90% chance of approval by January.
Reports from Reuters via Benzinga, and repeated by other media outlets, appear to confirm that the BlackRock/iShares Bitcoin ETF has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. If true, this would be the first time a spot Bitcoin ETF has been approved in the U.S.
There are reasons to doubt the story, however. For one, the SEC has yet to update its website. Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett also reached out to her sources at BlackRock, who denied the story. Their application is still under review, said a spokesperson.
In response, several tweets around the news have since been deleted.
Bitcoin’s price jumped significantly from $27,962 to 29,388 within minutes of the story breaking before dropping down to $27,855 within 20 minutes.
Market Manipulation?
The immediate reaction following the slap down by Terrett were cries of manipulation. Many X (formerly Twitter) users are actively speculating about a false flag operation to bump Bitcoin’s price, which always responds positively to progress on the ETF front.
We may have some time to wait for official news of an approval. The SEC is currently reviewing several spot Bitcoin ETF applications from the likes of ARK Invest, Fidelity, Invesco, and WisdomTree.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, first applied for its spot Bitcoin ETF back on June 15. It was the first of these latest tranche of applicants to do so.
As recently as last week, Bloomberg analysts predicted there would be a 90% chance that a spot Bitcoin ETF is approved by January 1.
