SEC Gets Letter Influx Over Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF

Lots of people are interested in the SEC decision on Grayscale application for Bitcoin spot ETF, according to Bloomberg. 

The US Securities Exchange Commission claims that it has received almost 200 letters on whether it’ll approve the application or not. According to the regulator, most of these letters arrived in February.

Grayscale, the largest Bitcoin fund in the world, applied to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a Spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in October 2021.

Although the regulator has approved several Bitcoin futures ETF, it has been much more skeptical with Spot ETF. It has rejected at least three applications for a Bitcoin spot ETF. However, it’s yet to decide on the Grayscale application.

According to regulators, the decision was to protect investors and public interest. But investors have claimed that they don’t feel protected. The regulator has now received over 198 letters, most of them asking to approve the application. Most of the letters, 184, arrived in February. 

The influx of letters this month is due to the renewed publicity on the matter, especially on social media. On February 1, the SEC asked for public comments on the issue. Grayscale also called on investors to submit comments on the matter.

What the letters said

Some of the letters support a Bitcoin spot ETF, claiming because it’ll boost the crypto industry and ensure more regulated investment options. But some disagree with this stance, and some even oppose cryptocurrency in general.

One investor with GBTC,  Clay Craven, wrote, “I don’t feel I’m being protected by the SEC. It’s pasttime for the SEC to approve the GBTC ETF conversion and stop harming investors and the country by outsourcing capital to foreign countries where spot BTC ETFs are already trading and approved by regulators.”

According to the Grayscale CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, “a lot of the letters have been echoing what we at Grayscale have been articulating for quite some time and continue to do so today—that investors have been patient and deserve a spot Bitcoin ETF.”

Last November, Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer wrote a letter to the SEC on the matter. The response of the SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, was that there are concerns about manipulations and fraud, but the commission was carefully considering the proposition.

The approval of a Bitcoin Spot ETF won’t only be good for the industry, but it’s also great for Grayscale. Because the Bitcoin fund currently operates as a trust, its share price doesn’t reflect current market sentiment. This makes the shares currently undervalued compared to the underlying asset.

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