In less than a day, Bitcoin (BTC) has lost nearly all of the gains Grayscale made in its court victory with U.S. securities regulators.
Bitcoin surged to two-week highs on Aug. 29 after a judge ruled that the SEC was “arbitrary and capricious” in rejecting Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF application.
However, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently delayed seven pending applications for a bitcoin ETF spot, sending bitcoin prices down, down almost 5% over the past 24 hours.
According to Cointelegraph Markets Pro data, the price of bitcoin is currently around $26,000, a sharp drop from the level of around $27,300 it has maintained since Grayscale’s victory.
The joint funds of BlackRock, WisdomTree, VanEck, Bitwise, Valkyrie and Fidelity, as well as Invesco and Galaxy, were all delayed by the SEC on August 31.
Prices fell even as some, including Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, expected a delay.
We have now fully retraced to the Bitcoin price prior to the SEC Grayscale lawsuit.
Pretty much sums up the current state of the market. pic.twitter.com/PS4T12uHFh
— Ben Simpson (@bensimpsonau) August 31, 2023
The SEC’s delay allows it another 45 days to approve, deny or delay the application again.
related: When is it too late to invest in Bitcoin?
The next decision deadline for ETF applications runs from Oct. 16 to Oct. 19, though the SEC could also choose to delay a decision until around mid-March next year, when it will be forced to make a decision.
However, Balchunas said on Aug. 30 that there is a 75 percent chance that the SEC will approve a spot bitcoin ETF this year, up from a previous forecast of 65 percent.
He attributed the increased odds to Grayscale’s court victory, saying the judge’s unanimous rejection of the SEC’s arguments meant the company “will have a hard time justifying further denials when it faces a deadline.”
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