"We Have Heard Nothing to Indicate Anything but Approval," Senior ETF Analyst Says

Last updated: January 3, 2024 01:10 EST . 2 min read

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A senior ETF analyst has cast doubt on the accuracy of a new report published by crypto investment services provider Matrixport alleging the SEC may very well reject all spot Bitcoin ETF applications come January.

“Massively out of consensus”

“People tagging me like crazy on this “rejection” report. We have heard nothing to indicate anything but approval but I want to give the guy the benefit of the doubt so I’m asking if he has any sources or if he is just speculating,” Balchunas wrote in a post on X. “He seems to be a bitcoin bull and recently tweeted “utives” said approval likely. So unsure why he flipped.”

In response to Balchunas’ posts, Markus Thielson, head of research at Matrixport, wrote that his “report is not based on issuer, nor on SEC insider comments.”

While Thielson admitted to previously having bullish expectations previously, he went on to state that he “turned bearish” as of Wednesday.

“Obviously this is massively out of consensus,” said Thielson. “I do think the SEC will vote it down.”

A whirlwind of a morning

The exchange follows a morning of turbulence for Bitcoin, which dropped a whopping 8% amidst the release of Matrixport’s analysis.

“While we have seen frequent meetings between the ETF applicants and staff from the SEC, which resulted in the applicants refiling their applications, we believe all applications fall short of a critical requirement that must be met before the SEC approves,” the Matrixport analysis states. “This might be fulfilled by Q2 2024, but we expect the SEC to reject all proposals in January.”

Matrixport co-founder Jihan Wu subsequently took to X to state that the report’s rapid media dissemination “was not planned” by the company and is “beyond our control.”

“Matrixport’s analysts operate independently, expressing their opinions without any influence or interference from management,” Wu stated.

“In my opinion, the approval of a Spot ETF by SEC, which will attract fresh investment into Bitcoin, is inevitable,” the Matrixport co-founder assured.

Accusations of market manipulation

However, many in the crypto community are upset that the report was released at all, with several alleging that Matrixport should be looked into for market manipulation.

“Matrixport should be investigated for market manipulation regarding the BTC ETF denial “opinion,” wrote one X user.

“If you don’t think this is market manipulation, you haven’t been here long enough,” wrote another. “Sorry to everyone that sold.”

Meanwhile, Bitcoin remained down 5% at the time of this article’s publication.

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