- Crypto fund manager Grayscale is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve all proposed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the same time to avoid giving any one ETF an advantage.
- Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, submitted a letter to the SEC arguing that approving all spot Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously would be a fair and orderly decision.
- The letter also pointed out that the SEC has already approved Bitcoin futures ETFs, and the two types of funds are linked.
- Grayscale criticized recent surveillance sharing agreements (SSAs) between Coinbase and spot ETF providers, stating that they would not meet the SEC’s standards.
- ETF filings from Invesco, BlackRock, Valkyrie, VanEck, Wisdom, Fidelity, and ARK Invest were recently updated to include SSAs with Coinbase.
- In late June, the SEC pushed back on the ETFs due to the lack of SSAs, citing concerns about market manipulation.
- Grayscale argued that SSAs are unnecessary based on the SEC’s standards, as Coinbase is not registered as a securities exchange or broker-dealer.
- Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which aims to track Bitcoin’s price, has nearly 1 million investors.
- Salm believes converting GBTC to an ETF would return billions in value to investors and sees no reason why the SEC should prevent GBTC investors from a spot Bitcoin ETF.
- Last June, the SEC denied Grayscale’s application to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF, leading Grayscale to sue the regulator.
Grayscale is advocating for the SEC to approve all spot Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously to ensure fairness and avoid favoring any one ETF over others. The company argues that approving these ETFs would be consistent with the SEC’s previous approvals of Bitcoin futures ETFs. Grayscale also criticizes the recent surveillance sharing agreements between Coinbase and spot ETF providers, stating that they do not meet the SEC’s standards. The company highlights the success of its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and believes that converting it to an ETF would benefit investors. The SEC’s denial of Grayscale’s application to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF led to a legal challenge from Grayscale.
