^ While I dislike to end up being too much of a conspiracy theorist as much as possible, I wouldn't be surprised if someone(mostly an entity) is the one pulling the strings on Gensler. I'm pretty sure he himself knows how net-positive a spot ETF is, assuming he's actually siding with the people.
I don't think we are going into a conspiracy if we say that Gensler also has his boss, and that he is placed in his position by political suitability and willingness to carry out what that policy represents. It is not disputed that the Bitcoin spot ETF would be profitable, the SEC and investors know that - but the main problem in the whole story is that Bitcoin is not something they can control because it is still decentralized and extremely volatile, which is a very bad combination for the SEC.
On the other hand, offers from Grayscale, Fidelity, SkyBridge, and Valkyrie are not serious in the sense that they are making higher profits even before they transfer their trust to ETF.
it will be approved sooner or later, but all parties are happy with the current situation
I would not agree that they are happy with the current situation because in that case there would not be so much pressure on the SEC to finally approve something they have been refusing for years. To make matters worse, the same instrument has been approved by Canada and Australia, and some other countries, and US investors and companies are not used to being in a subordinate position when it comes to profit opportunities.