Nasdaq to meet with SEC today to discuss spot bitcoin ETFs: Source

Members of the Nasdaq team are meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday and plan to discuss, among other topics, a long-awaited spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Nasdaq, which filed its 19b-4 form for BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin BTC +1.59% Trust over the summer, will meet with the agency's staff — which is fairly standard when it comes to filing for a new product — a person familiar with the matter said. 

The meeting doesn't indicate any changes to whether a spot bitcoin ETF will get the SEC's sign off, they said. The person familiar also couldn't comment on timing for when a spot bitcoin ETF would get the SEC's approval or disapproval. 

Fox Business' Eleanor Terrett reported earlier on Wednesday that Nasdaq, Cboe, and the New York Stock Exchange were meeting with the SEC to "finalize comments" on their 19b-4 filings. Nasdaq and Cboe and NYSE did not respond to a request for comment. NYSE declined to comment. 

An SEC spokesperson said it doesn't comment on individual filings. 

"Broadly speaking, if the Commission declares a registration statement effective, that is reflected on EDGAR," the SEC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. "Any Commission 19b-4 orders will be posted on our website and then published in the Federal Register."

Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, echoed Terrett's reporting on X. He said the agency probably doesn't do these kinds of meetings if it plans to deny or delay the proposals.

Recent spot bitcoin ETF filings

ETF issuers including BlackRock and Fidelity filed updated forms with the SEC in late December, which was seen as a final push for a spot bitcoin ETF. BlackRock named Jane Street Capital and JP Morgan Securities LLC as authorized participants. 

Anticipation has ballooned for a spot bitcoin ETF, which would be a first in the U.S., if the SEC decides by Jan. 10 to approve or disapprove of such a product. The January deadline is when the agency must make a decision on one of the applications, ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, and could mean the SEC decides to rule on other applications. 

A sticking point over the last few weeks has been whether the ETFs would have cash or in-kind based creation and redemption models. Filings from recent meetings have appeared to nod toward a so-called cash redemption model that analysts have said the SEC seemed to be favoring. 

Updated at 3:05 p.m. ET to add detail and include a comment from the SEC