Grayscale presses SEC for meeting on GBTC spot bitcoin conversion
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Grayscale Investments is pressing the Securities and Exchange Commission for next steps in getting a spot bitcoin ETF launched.
Driving the news: The firm's legal counsel submitted a comment letter Tuesday asking for a meeting with the U.S. regulator, highlighting the urgency of the matter by pointing to investors left in the lurch without one.
What they're saying: "Now that the Court of Appeals has spoken, there is no available rationale that would distinguish a bitcoin futures [exchange-traded product] from a spot bitcoin ETP under the legal analysis previously adopted by the Commission in rejecting spot bitcoin ETPs," Joseph Hall, a lawyer at Davis Polk representing Grayscale, said in the letter.
- "The Trust's Rule 19b-4 filing has now been pending for nearly three times the length permitted for Commission action," he added, referencing the exchange application that requires SEC approval before any spot bitcoin ETFs can list.
- Translation: Make haste.
Catch up fast: A court last week ruled that the SEC's decision to reject Grayscale's application was arbitrary and started a 45-day clock for the regulator to approve, disapprove or institute procedures to make such a determination on converting the world's largest bitcoin trust, "GBTC," into an ETF.
- The SEC told Axios shortly following the ruling that it was mulling next steps.
Of note: As it relates to would-be competitors of GBTC, Hall asserts that the SEC "may not now impose an additional, new requirement on spot bitcoin ETPs for a surveillance-sharing agreement with a spot bitcoin market."
- Grayscale's application proposes an agreement with the CME, not Coinbase.
Between the lines: Grayscale does not want to go to the back of the line and stand behind BlackRock or any other recent applicant.
