Crypto asset manager Grayscale is suing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a rejected bid to convert Grayscale’s Bitcoin (BTC) fund into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
In a recent open letter, Grayscale announced the SEC was “discriminatory” when it rejected its application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot market Bitcoin ETF and says it’s suing the agency.
“Today, we received notice that our application to convert GBTC to a spot ETF was denied by the SEC. We are deeply disappointed by and do not agree with its decision…
The SEC is failing to apply consistent treatment to Bitcoin investment vehicles as evidenced by its denial of GBTC’s application for conversion to a spot ETF, but approval of several Bitcoin futures ETFs.
If regulators are comfortable with ETFs that hold derivatives of a given asset, they should logically be comfortable with ETFs that hold that same asset.
It is the SEC’s arbitrary and capricious actions and discriminatory treatment of issuers that necessitates elevating this matter to the courts in the best interest of GBTC and our investors.”
In a new interview on CNBC Squawk Box, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenheim says the SEC missed a huge regulatory opportunity by rejecting their bid.
“The fact that a US regulator is shunning the opportunity to bring this further into the regulatory perimeter and give investors more disclosure, more protections, this is an unbelievably missed opportunity on their part,” says @sonnenshein on the SEC rejecting $GBTC #Bitcoin. pic.twitter.com/IZboQLkJn7
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) June 30, 2022
Skybridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci also chimed in, assessing that the SEC missed a massive opportunity that other nations are capitalizing on.
“It’s a missed opportunity for the country. We’ve had the mantle of financial services leadership for 100+ years and the fact that the SEC is moving in this direction [when] the Europeans are rallying for a cash ETF, the Canadians are rallying for a cash ETF, just a huge missed opportunity.”
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