CNBC Senior Market Correspondent Bob Pisani on Thursday said the SEC’s upcoming decision on Bitcoin BTC/USD exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will determine whether they choose to yield or persist in the battle.
What Happened: "The ball is now in the SEC’s court a lot depending on whether SEC chair Gary Gensler wants to fold or fight to the end," Pisani said.
This comes as a federal court order directed the SEC to reconsider its rejection of Grayscale Investments' application. Grayscale, the entity behind the crypto fund, first attempted to transform its GBTC closed-end fund into an ETF in October 2021.
Pisani believes that the SEC will likely approve all the pending Bitcoin ETF applications. "My bet would be eventually sometime in the fall. They approve them all," he said.
Pisani said, "The SEC has several choices to make. The first one of the most important things is whether the SEC wants to appeal the case, the regulator has 45 days to make that decision and appeal is possible. But the harsh tone of the judicial ruling certainly makes it more difficult for the SEC to appeal."
He said that if the SEC appeals the ruling, "the order would be stayed until a final decision" is reached.
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Why It Matters: Alternatively, if the SEC chooses not to appeal, "they could go along with the court ruling and approve all of the nine applications for spot Bitcoin ETF and that could happen fairly quickly," Pisani explained.
Pisani also notes the possibility that the SEC could reject Bitcoin futures ETFs altogether, but this is seen as highly unlikely "considering the SEC recently approved leveraged Bitcoin futures that are out there so there is a real food fight going on at the SEC."
"Right now there are hardliners there who say bitcoin is baloney. And we should have no control over that. We have no control over the exchanges. We need to stop it and fight it as long as possible."
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