The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is showing an increasing frequency of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings. December was the busiest month in history for such ETFs, and the SEC appears to be nearing the final stages of the approval process.

The SEC has been holding meetings with spot Bitcoin ETF applicants about structuring and application processes. In these meetings, it is emphasized that ETFs should only be traded with cash. The SEC states that applications that do not accept this condition will not be considered.

This cash structure, which the SEC emphasizes, means that investors will not be able to exchange Bitcoin for dollars or dollars for Bitcoin. Investors will only be able to trade using cash. The SEC is requesting that filings that mention in-kind purchases or redemptions be revised.

ETF issuers are expected to update their S-1 filings for AP (Authorized Participant) approvals, the next stage of the approval process. These updates are expected to be made in the next 10 days and approval before January 8-10 is considered unlikely.

Since the SEC tends to approve all filings at the same time, January 8-10 is seen as the most likely approval period. CoinRoutes co-CEO David Weisberger notes that the SEC wants a cash-generation-oriented amendment and that approval is likely to occur before January 10.

In the meantime, the Bitcoin price is at $43,634 and is attracting interest from buyers below $44,000, pending ETF approval.

$BTC