Brokerage firm Bernstein has published a report stating that the likelihood of approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is quite high.

However, according to analysts, the SEC may fear that the spot Bitcoin ETF will not be reliable.

“Spot exchanges such as Coinbase are not regulated, and therefore spot prices are unreliable and subject to manipulation,” writes company analyst Gautam Chhugani,

Bernstein says the absence of a Bitcoin spot ETF will lead to the rise of over-the-counter products such as the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which are more expensive, illiquid and inefficient.

“The SEC would rather introduce a regulated bitcoin ETF led by larger Wall Street participants and overseen by existing regulated exchanges than deal with an over-the-counter product,” the report says.

Recall that last month Blackrock filed an application to create a spot ETF for bitcoin. Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie also filed similar applications.

The SEC recently called these filings “inadequate,” after which Blackrock and several other companies updated their filings and resubmitted them to the agency.