Bullish Bitcoin ETF Approval? Grayscale Seeks To Expand Team

A spot Bitcoin ETF (Exchange Traded Fund) might be imminent in the United States, as a new job offer from Grayscale suggested. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was expected to issue a decision yesterday, but none has been announced.

Grayscale Prepares For Bitcoin ETF Approval?

According to the job post, the asset manager firm is hiring a Senior Associate for their ETFs division. Candidates must have analytical and “proactive” skills to support their ETF business. The post reads:

This role will be on the ground floor of building an ETF issuer and will work across various internal stakeholders and external business partners including sub-advisors, market makers, compliance, sales, and custodians. The candidate will exhibit a team first attitude, be self-motivated with a strong ability and experience multitasking all while bringing a positive attitude and entrepreneurial spirit to the work environment.

At a minimum, candidates must have 5+ years of experience working for an ETF issuer or an asset manager firm such as Grayscale. In addition, the position demands people to know the in-depths of the US-registered ETF ecosystem, including trading, market making, portfolio management, and other aspects.

Some crypto community members and the financial world have been speculating about the implications of the post, with the SEC’s decision expected tomorrow. Blomberg’s Eric Balchunas stated:

Is this bullish spot approval? No idea but I do know ETFs are and will be a huge growth area and so fyi for anyone looking for a job..

Other experts pointed out the recent Bitcoin price action. For the first time in weeks, the price of Bitcoin left its tight range and moved to the downside.

While millions have been liquidated from long positions, Open Interest, the number of open contracts across the derivatives sector has been rallying. Thus, economist Michaël van de Poppe and others believe the job post is “interesting news” given the current market context.

Via his X account, van de Poppe stated:

While Open Interest is rallying substantially, we’re getting some interesting news. Grayscale wins the case against the SEC for Bitcoin ETF?

According to Balchunas, the odds of a spot Bitcoin ETF getting approved in the United States are high. Still, the regulator seems determined to push any decision related to this financial instrument until 2024. At least, recent rumors suggested the above, but a surprise should not be ruled out.

Lot of tweets/publications saying things are de-facto pushed out to 2024 for spot #Bitcoin ETFs. Hype for approvals right before halving etc etc. But there’s still a bunch of deadlines in 2023 squared off in Green below.

PLUS we are waiting on @grayscale & $GBTC court case pic.twitter.com/nTHHxVztw7

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) August 15, 2023 

As of this writing, Bitcoin trades at $28,400 with a 2% loss in the last 24 hours.

Cover image from Unsplash, chart from Tradingview