- A spot bitcoin ETF could be coming as soon as this year, crypto bull Mike Novogratz said.
- The billionaire investor told CNBC the approval process was likely headed in the right direction.
- Still, regulators have repeatedly punted on a decision to approve any bitcoin ETF this year.
A spot bitcoin exchange traded fund is coming as soon as 2023, according to Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz.
The billionaire crypto bull pointed to multiple requests by firms to launch a spot bitcoin ETF over the past year. Those will undoubtedly be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and that could come as soon as before the end of 2023, Novogratz said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday.
“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 pointed to the recent lawsuit between Grayscale and the SEC, wherein Grayscale won its case against regulators, who rejected its application to turn a bitcoin trust into an ETF.
“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,” Novogratz added.
Bitcoin dipped 0.9% to $28,257 on Wednesday.
There’s also high demand for a spot bitcoin ETF. BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, is one of the handful of firms that has requested to launch a bitcoin ETF, though is still awaiting approval from SEC regulators.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin is also increasingly seen as a viable store of value, Novogratz said, which should help the case for an coming spot ETF launch. BlackRock chief Larry Fink’s recent conversion into a bitcoin bull could send the cryptocurrency to anew high, Novogratz previously predicted.
“It’s just a recognized macro asset. And that’s a huge psychological shift,” he said of Fink’s view of the asset.
Still, the SEC has repeatedly punted on a decision to approve any spot bitcoin ETF, despite pressure from lawmakers for the regulatory body to approve the ETF sooner rather than later.
