Despite the crypto market’s optimistic rise in anticipation of the United States’ first spot Bitcoin ETF approval, Matrixport has released a surprising report. Contrary to general expectations, Matrixport suggests that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not approve a spot Bitcoin ETF this month and predicts the final approval to come in the second quarter of the year.
Matrixport’s latest report has taken the crypto world by surprise, claiming that the SEC will reject all spot Bitcoin ETF applications in January and that final approval is only expected in the second quarter. The company forecasts Bitcoin’s price to retract to the $36,000 to $38,000 range and advises investors to position themselves accordingly for the potential decline.
Furthermore, the crypto firm suggests that investors who want to prepare for a potential SEC spot ETF surprise should consider buying Bitcoin put options and engage in direct short selling.
The market has been fueled by the expectation that the SEC would approve at least one spot Bitcoin ETF by January 11, with Bitcoin’s price recently reaching $45,800 on January 2, following this sentiment.
However, Matrixport’s report, which indicates significant negativity, has led to a downturn in the crypto market. The price of Bitcoin, which was around $45,000, dropped to $44,400 following the report. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $44,430, showing a 2.44% decrease over the last 24 hours and signs of a continuing downward trend.
Market observers warn that if the first U.S. spot ETF is not approved as Matrixport suggests, Bitcoin’s price could experience a significant drop, and particularly altcoins could face sharp pullbacks. Even the $36,000 target indicated by Matrixport represents a substantial 20% decrease from current prices, highlighting the critical nature of these predictions.