Michael Sonnenshain, Grayscale Investments on the New York Stock Exchange, April 18, 2022.
Source: NYSE
grayscaleCNBC sought to convince regulators last week that the asset management company, which operates the world’s largest Bitcoin fund, met with the Securities and Exchange Commission personally to approve the conversion of its flagship fund to an ETF.
Converting the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to an ETF traded on the NYSE will increase access to Bitcoin, increase protection, and value up to $ 8 billion for investors, according to a 24-page presentation obtained by CNBC. It can be obtained.
Because it is known for its trust GBTC Ticker has been trading at an average discount of 25% on the price of the underlying asset since early 2021, and the discount should disappear at the time of conversion, the company said.
CEO-led Michael SonnenshainGrayscale is engaged in a high stakes campaign to pressure US regulators to approve the first spot-based Bitcoin ETFs.The asset management company Seen as a competitor include ProShares Obtained approval for futures-based Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, demonstrating that the SEC is more accustomed to futures-based products than Bitcoin-based products.
Spot-based Bitcoin ETFs are a familiar wrapper that trades like stocks and open up digital assets to the general public, making them an important milestone in the adoption of digital assets. This goal has evaded the industry for over five years. The first application for the Grayscale Spot Bitcoin ETF was in early 2017.
According to Grayscale, GBTC owns about 3.4% of the world’s Bitcoin and is owned by more than 850,000 US accounts. A fund that enables institutional investors like ArkInvest Cathie wood Recent cryptocurrency shrinkage has turned assets $ 20.1 billion..
Investment companies have helped create open letters pushInundates the SEC with over 3,000 characters to support its application.The company even hinted that it would Sue SEC If the application is rejected.
The deadline for the SEC to approve or reject a Grayscale application is July 6.
Since November, most analysts have been reluctant to approve the SEC after six similar applications from competitors have been rejected. The SEC is concerned about the potential for fraud and manipulation in the Bitcoin market and has indicated that it will not approve spot-based applications until the global exchanges are better regulated.
It delights the agency (“The SEC is in its own position to support the White House presidential directive to ensure that the United States leads in innovation in digital assets”) and criticizes it. May explain a grayscale approach that looks alternating between:
“The SEC discriminates against issuers by approving Bitcoin futures ETFs and rejecting Bitcoin spot ETFs,” according to Grayscale.
Grayscale argued that Spot Bitcoin ETFs are “less risky” than futures-based ETFs. This is because the two markets are affected by Bitcoin’s underlying asset price and are closely tracking each other.
The company also struggled to outline the increased disclosures associated with GBTC and its network of partners. BNY Mellon When CoinbaseWho is ready to assist in that conversion process.
The SEC did not immediately return the request for comment.
