Grayscale, a digital currency investments and cryptocurrency asset management firm, is among the crypto firms that are currently strategizing on how to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Bitcoin, and recent statements from its top executives indicate that it is willing to challenge the United States’ Securities and Exchange Commission, should its application for a spot ETF become denied.
According to Michael Sonnenshein, the firm’s CEO, the firm may pursue an Administrative Procedures Act lawsuit against the SEC if their application for a Bitcoin ETF with the SEC becomes denied.
Sonnenshein claims that the SEC is not giving out enough effort to protect investors, insofar as the same subjects were forced to deal with crypto through other means and facilities. The Grayscale head, however, remains confident that the regulator would later on approve the firm’s Bitcoin spot ETF application, given time.
The application in question is a conversion, in which the firm’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would be turned into a spot ETF, which means that it would able to track Bitcoin directly as an underlying asset.
“I think all options are on the table,” said Sonnenshein, when asked regarding the possible pursuit of a lawsuit against the SEC.
The application’s status will be determined by the SEC, pending a deadline on July 6th this year. Grayscale claims that is putting all of its available resources to support the application and have it approved come the deadline.
Sonnenshein claims that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) has roughly 800,000 accounts in the United States alone, having been traded since 2015. The Grayscale executive opines that if the Trust remains at its current status, investors are exposed to an unnecessary risk. This is due to the fact that GBTC investors will not be able to utilize the so-called “ETF wrapper” which is a set of investor protection clauses that would serve as a fallback for investors based on the market movement of an asset.
Grayscale is one of the key players in the crypto industry worldwide, and has since launched several investments products aimed at providing either direct or indirect exposure to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. The firm has also been quite vocal in pushing for crypto-friendly regulations, both in the United States and globally.
While it remains to be seen if the SEC would eventually approve the Grayscale Bitcoin ETF application, crypto enthusiasts and investors are keeping their fingers crossed that the regulator would see the potential benefits of such a product in the market. Given the current market conditions, an approval from the SEC might just provide the boost that cryptocurrencies need to achieve further adoption, especially in the case of institutional investments.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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