Fox Reporter Eleanor Terrett has brought to light a significant procedural detail of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that could impact the approval of the much-anticipated spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). Terrett revealed on January 9th that while there is no scheduled commission vote on the Bitcoin ETF, each of the five SEC commissioners has the right to request a review and a full commission vote.
This procedural detail could potentially delay the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, a development eagerly awaited by the crypto community. The current SEC commissioners are Gensler, Crenshaw, Peirce, Lizárraga, and Uyeda. Terrett’s revelation was in response to a tweet by Anne Kelley, which highlighted a little-known clause, 17 C.F.R. Section 201.431. This clause allows any single SEC Commissioner to require the full Commission to review a matter previously approved via staff-delegated authority. It is one of the few tools available to non-chair commissioners to enhance transparency in the SEC’s decision-making process.
Eric Balchunas, a senior Bloomberg ETF analyst, responded to Terrett’s tweet, expressing confidence in the approval process under SEC Chair Gensler’s direction. Balchunas suggested that the staff’s diligent work with issuers indicated a plan for approval and advised against over-complicating the situation. This discussion followed a statement by Justin Slaughter, policy director at Paradigm, highlighting the SEC’s ability to vote on matters without a formal meeting through the “seriatim” process. In a subsequent tweet, Anne Kelly emphasized the potential for this clause to add time to the approval process, raising the question of whether a commissioner might request a full commission vote.
On January 2, Terrett had expressed doubt about an imminent spot Bitcoin ETF approval, citing vacations and work overload at the SEC. Her comments were in response to crypto expert Scott Melker’s speculation about a potential approval. Drawing a parallel to the Ethereum futures approval in October 2023, she suggested a similar timeline for the spot Bitcoin ETF, indicating that the process might extend beyond the immediate deadline.
Terrett also mentioned that the SEC and major exchanges such as Nasdaq, CBOE, and NYSE were meeting regarding the spot Bitcoin ETF applications. These meetings allow issuers to address application shortcomings, moving them closer to approval. However, with the January 10 deadline approaching, the outcome of these meetings and the SEC’s final decision remain uncertain.
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| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | neutral |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Eleanor Terrett, Anne Kelley, Justin Slaughter, Scott Melker, Eric Balchunas |
| Companies | CBOE, Binance, Bloomberg, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Nasdaq, Paradigm, NYSE |
| Currencies | Ethereum, Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
