By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 26th, 2024
Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital estimates that a spot Bitcoin ETF could attract enough capital to drive the price of Bitcoin up by 74%.
Galaxy Digital founder and CEO Michael Novogratz has rehashed his statement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) this year.
Speaking at the AIM Summit conference in Dubai, the billionaire predicted that the SEC will approve spot Bitcoin ETF in December. He however added that it was unlikely that any spot Bitcoin ETF would begin trading until 2024.
Galaxy Digital is one of several asset managers awaiting the SEC’s decision on their proposed ETFs that will invest directly in Bitcoin. The firm has partnered with investment management company Invesco on its application. Others awaiting regulatory approval include BlackRock, Bitwise, Valkyrie and VanEck. The latter, like several others in the past weeks, amended its application last week which experts take as a sign of progress in talks between regulators and applicants.
According to Bloomberg analysts, there is a 90% chance that spot Bitcoin ETF will be approved. Grayscale’s recent court victory over the SEC has inspired hope that crypto-based financial products will have a more positive experience with regulators going forward.
Novogratz, a longtime crypto bull previously expressed his confidence in a spot Bitcoin ETF approval this year in an interview with CNBC about two weeks ago.
“It’s going to get approved … We think it happens this year in 2023,” Novogratz said. “All the indications of dealing seem to be heading in the right direction.” He added:
“The judge said, ‘What are you talking about SEC? You have a futures ETF and you’re saying you can’t have a cash ETF. That makes intellectually zero sense. And I think that put the SEC on the back foot.”
Meanwhile, Galaxy Digital estimates that a spot Bitcoin ETF could attract enough capital to drive the price of Bitcoin up by 74%. Further, according to the firm’s research, roughly $14 billion will flow into a Bitcoin ETF following its launch, increasing to $27 billion by the second year and $39 billion by the third.
