Grayscale, a crypto fund manager, is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve all proposed spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) simultaneously. The company’s Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, posted on July 27, stating that Grayscale’s legal team has submitted a letter concerning eight spot Bitcoin ETF filings, including their own. The argument put forth is that the SEC should avoid favoring certain ETFs over others, aiming for a fair and orderly decision-making process.
The letter highlighted the possibility of approving the spot ETFs based on the SEC’s previous approvals for Bitcoin futures ETFs, asserting that the two types of funds are closely connected. Grayscale also expressed skepticism about the recent surveillance sharing agreements (SSAs) between Coinbase and the spot ETF providers, suggesting that these agreements may not meet the SEC’s standards and are not a novel concept.
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Grayscale expressed concerns that approving the ETFs would represent a sudden and significant departure from the SEC’s standard application process. This, in turn, could lead to an unfair and discriminatory advantage for the proposed ETFs over other applications.
According to Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), designed to mirror Bitcoin’s price, has amassed nearly 1 million investors. If the GBTC were to be converted into an ETF, it could potentially return billions in value to its investors. Salm argued that there is no valid reason for the SEC to deny GBTC investors access to a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Last June, the SEC rejected Grayscale’s application to convert GBTC into a spot Bitcoin ETF. In response, Grayscale filed a lawsuit against the regulatory body, claiming that it was acting arbitrarily and failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.