Wall Street analysts at JPMorgan and Bloomberg Intelligence made the prediction in a report out Wednesday. The note said it is “most likely” the SEC will approve a Bitcoin ETF before January 10, 2024.

They expect the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to approve a Bitcoin ETF sometime soon despite its misgivings about cryptocurrency.

“Bitcoin ETFs will arrive in a few months,” JPMorgan wrote.

JPMorgan: SEC will grant spot ETF approval by January

Crypto markets have been breathlessly awaiting the SEC’s approval of a number of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund proposals. Earlier this week, an incorrect report that the SEC had already approved a spot Bitcoin ETF sent the BTC price soaring to $30,000.

Meanwhile, institutional investors are chomping at the bit for SEC approval to get some digital asset exposure in their portfolios.

An exchange-traded fund for spot Bitcoin prices would likely rally crypto markets with a flood of institutional investments from hedge funds:

“The absence of a spot variant in the U.S. remains notable, even as the SEC has approved Bitcoin futures ETFs.”

However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has remained tight-lipped as to what the SEC intends to do about the popular demand for a Bitcoin price ETF.

Coinbase legal chief expects Bitcoin ETF “in short order”

Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, told Bloomberg Friday that he is “hopeful” of an SEC approval sometime soon:

“I’m quite hopeful that these [ETF] applications will be granted, if only because they should be granted under the law.”

Grewal added:

“I think that the firms that have stepped forward with robust proposals for these products and services are among some of the biggest blue chips in financial services.”

Gensler gave mostly boilerplate answers in an interview with Bloomberg this week:

“The SEC chairman spoke to Bloomberg about his agency’s work on ETFs but refrained from anything more than general comments.”

JPMorgan is anticipating competition among hedge funds to provide exchange-traded funds that track with Bitcoin price as a result of the hotly anticipated SEC approval.

Ark Invest CEO Cathie Wood said in a recent Bloomberg interview that she expects the SEC to approve more than one Bitcoin ETF proposal all at once.

Companies with proposals include BlackRock, Invesco, WisdomTree, Fidelity, and many others.