Grayscale Urges SEC to Greenlight Spot Bitcoin ETF ‘As Quickly As Possible’

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Jai Pratap

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Jai Pratap

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Jai serves as the Asia Desk Editor for Cryptonews.com, where he leads a diverse team of international reporters. Jai has over five years of experience covering the web3 industry.

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September 6, 2023 00:20 EDT

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Crypto asset manager Grayscale’s legal team has sent a letter to the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) asking the agency to move ahead with its proposed Spot Bitcoin BTF and meet its staff as soon as practical. 

Law firms Davis Polk and Munger Tolles & Olson, representing Grayscale, sent a letter to the US SEC a week after the US Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit ruled that the federal agency wrongfully rejected the company’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETF. 

The court ruled that SEC did not adequately explain its reasoning behind rejecting spot Bitcoin ETF. 

The court ruled in favor of Grayscale, asking SEC to review crypto asset manager’s application. However, the SEC has to appeal the court’s decision. 

Grayscale’s Lawyer Calls Out Inconsistencies in SEC’s Approach 

In a letter sent to the SEC on Tuesday, Joseph Hall of Davis Polk, representing Grayscale, called out inconsistencies in SEC approach towards Bitcoin ETF. The letter mentioned:

We believe the commission should conclude that there are no grounds for treating the trust differently from ETPs [exchange-traded products] that invest in Bitcoin futures contracts.”

Grayscale has reasoned that its proposed spot Bitcoin ETF should be greenlighted as it would rely on the same market surveillance arrangement with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) that the federal agency had approved for Bitcoin futures ETF. 

Urging SEC to move ahead quickly, Joseph Hall further noted that if there were any other reason that could be offered to differentiate spot Bitcoin ETPs from Bitcoin Future ETPs, it would have surfaced by now. 

Lawyer Claims Delaying Spot Bitcoin ETF Approval Would Harm Investors

Grayscale’s letter to the SEC expressed urgency in approving the spot Bitcoin ETF, arguing that delaying it would harm investors. 

Joseph Hall concluded the letter saying, “We believe the trust’s nearly one million investors deserve this fair playing field as quickly as possible.”

Hall argued in the letter that American investors are having to engage with “product structures that are less streamlined and more intricate” than the straightforward spot Bitcoin ETFs, citing the notable influx of funds into Bitcoin futures ETFs following the court ruling last week. 

In an interview with CryptoNews, Felix Shipkevich, the founder and principal of New York-based law firm Shipkevich PLLC, said that it is highly unlikely that SEC would appeal the court’s decision and a spot Bitcoin ETF is likely to be approved soon.