The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is contemplating its response to a court ruling that criticized its refusal of Grayscale Investments' application for a Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF), as revealed by SEC Chair Gary Gensler at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday. This development could potentially pave the way for firms such as BlackRock (NYSE:BLK), Fidelity Investments, and Invesco to launch their own Bitcoin ETFs.
However, the SEC's progress might be hampered by an imminent government shutdown, which threatens to postpone this process. The SEC has already pushed back some Bitcoin ETF applications into 2024 and is up against mid-October deadlines for others.
A government shutdown could also result in a furlough of 92% of the SEC's staff, leaving only urgent work to be attended to. Even applications that have been approved would require additional weeks for prospectus approval by the SEC, making a 2023 debut for Bitcoin ETFs increasingly unlikely.
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