CBOE says Bitcoin ETFs to begin trading on Thursday, though SEC decision is the last piece of the puzzle

●Fidelity has listed VanEck’s HODL, Ark21Shares’ ARKB, Invesco Galaxy’s BTCO, and WisdomTree’s BTCW.

●The investment products are still not available for trading until an official approval from the SEC gets published.

●With all 11 spot Bitcoin ETF tickers added to Bloomberg Terminal as pending listings, CBOE has approved multiple ETFs to trade on its exchange, pending SEC approval.

The buck stops with the United States Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) as the hard deadline for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) will be reached on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) has said that Bitcoin spot ETFs will begin trading as a new issue tomorrow, Thursday, January 11.

CBOE says BTC ETFs to begin trading tomorrow

The CBOE has said that BTC ETFs will begin trading on Thursday after the exchange approved multiple ETFs for listing on its platform ahead of an expected approval by the SEC. Specifically, the exchange has listed Ark 21Shares’ ARKB, Fidelity’s FBTC, VanEck’s HODL, WisdomTree’s BTCW, Invesco’s BTCO and Franklin’s Bitcoin ETF products.

The remaining three are set to list on the NYSE and two on the Nasdaq.

The ARKB, HODL, BTCO and BTCW ETFs have also been listed on Fidelity, but all funds await approval from the SEC before trading can begin.

The news comes as markets anticipate an approval from the financial regulator on Wednesday. Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino indicates that the SEC had informed one senior executive of a major spot BTC  ETF applicant that the fund will be approved today sometime after the close of trading.

Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, an ETF specialist, had indicated that approvals could come any time until roughly 6 pm ET, suggesting that they might come after market close. His colleague, Eric Balchunas, added  “Most likely is we see formal approvals ballpark 4-6pm [ET] today with the Derby starting on Thursday.”

This means that the last remaining piece of the puzzle is the approval from the SEC, expected later on Wednesday. This is despite the debacle that befell the agency on January 9 after its official X account was compromised, announcing a fake spot BTC ETF approval. Reportedly, the FBI is already underway with an investigation of the fake announcement. 

If the financial regulator does greenlight the investment products on Wednesday, then spot BTC ETFs will be the most prominent news throughout the broad financial markets on Thursday.