SEC Chairman Gary Gensler suggested his agency is rethinking its bitcoin ETF stance following a court decision overriding the regulator's Grayscale trust rejection, but stopped short of directly admitting policy changes.

In a CNBC interview Wednesday, Gensler confirmed the SEC has around one dozen spot bitcoin ETF bids under current review after denying past applications. He then hinted the landscape had shifted based on recent legal judgments.

Gensler sidestepped anchoring the implications to a specific August verdict that overturned the SEC's denial of a Grayscale Bitcoin Trust filing. But the timing and context strongly imply fallout from that rebuke has impacted thinking.

The comments pour fuel on analyst convictions that after years of dismissing proposals, bitcoin ETF approvals now loom thanks to maturing markets and judicial scrutiny questioning the SEC's rationale.

Yet despite mounting industry frustration with his ambiguity, the chairman remains characteristically cryptic — perhaps to retain discretion amid complex internal deliberations playing out.

So while tea leaves suggest a pivot, investors are left to parse vague statements rather than transparent pronouncements as crunch time nears for watershed decisions determining product viability. Despite pressures, Gensler retains leverage as chief steward shaping guardrails for a disruptive new asset class.