Bitcoin has been making higher lows since hitting $5754 (Bitfinex USD/BTC) on June 24th and first to $5877 on August 14th (Bitfinex USD/BTC) then on September 8th at $6118 (Bitfinex USD/BTC).
After failing to gather enough selling momentum to decisively break below $6000 it's looking like the market is in waiting mode for SEC to decide on the fate of a
Bitcoin ETF.How likely is SEC to green-light an ETF, let me know your opinions.

I wouldn't say that bitcoin has been "quietly bullish".
Markets are still overall pretty bearish with the dominant sentiment being exactly that. Bullish prospects including the prospect of a trend reversal at the moment is still extremely unlikely.
Yes I believe that we still need more time to go to a bullish trend. An increase for a day or two around 2%-3% doesn't mean that the bears are out of run. It's good to be optimistic about the crypto market but it's far better to realize the actual situation of market. We could term it bullish only when the market tern into green for a minimum of one week.
I believe prices are either going to stabilize at this level for a few more months, or more likely, have a dip down to the $5k zone as it finally bottoms before the recovery comes. ETF isn't likely to get approved at all, and even if it does, it would only provide a short term rally to the market in my opinion.
ETF stuff is already over, it is final that Bitcoin is not going to enter into it. I don't think that ETF would have been a great effect on the demand and the price of the Bitcoin. It may have a benefit for a selected group of people but on a vast scale, the crypto enthusiasts may not have saw a benefit of it.