Still, Mr. Senderowicz added, “if it leads to the development of more regulated trading venues, that would be helpful for the chances of a spot bitcoin ETF.”
James Seyffart, a Bloomberg Intelligence ETF research analyst, expressed similar sentiments in an interview Monday.
“No regulator is going to look at this and say, ‘All right, now is the time to approve a spot bitcoin ETF,'” Mr. Seyffart said, adding that for anyone who thought a spot bitcoin ETF might be approved early in 2023, “I think that’s kind of out the window at this point.”
While last week’s developments will likely mean a longer period before the SEC approves a spot bitcoin ETF, they actually help to underscore the case for one, he said.
“If there was an ETF there would be a way for people to get access to the space through secure means,” the analyst said, adding that for investors who invested in bitcoin through FTX.US, “it’s frozen, you don’t know if you’re going to get any of your money back, you could get some cents on the dollar.”
While Mr. Seyffart doubts that SEC Chairmain Gary Gensler “is going to want to touch this any time soon,” the analyst believes the SEC eventually will approve a spot bitcoin ETF.
“I still think that mid-to-late 2023 is a possibility,” he said. “The big problem right now is there is no regulatory clarity … so this might push Congress and other people to provide more of that clarity because everyone’s going to be screaming about what’s going on right now.”
FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried said on Twitter Nov. 11 that he “filed FTX, FTX US, and Alameda for voluntary Chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S.”
