Courts issued a new order on October 23rd regarding Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF proposal. This decision led to increases across various markets.
Grayscale aims to convert its GBTC fund into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The courts issued a judicial order on August 29th for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to review the relevant proposal. The issue came back into the spotlight this week when the courts issued an official order for further review.
The most recent order coincided with growth in multiple assets. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) increased by 5.9% today.
The cryptocurrency market experienced broader gains. Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 7.6% in the 24-hour period ending at 22:00 UTC on October 24th. Bitcoin outperformed Ethereum (ETH) with a 3.9% increase and the entire crypto market with a 5.4% increase during the same time frame.
On the other hand, Coinbase stock (COIN) rose by 6.3%. These gains can partly be attributed to the company’s own SEC filing timeline or broader developments related to the crypto exchange. However, Coinbase is expected to participate in oversight-sharing agreements, excluding Grayscale’s proposed fund, for various planned ETFs.
ETF Approval Not Certain
Spot Bitcoin ETFs in recent times are generally seen as promising due to Grayscale‘s court victory, BlackRock’s efforts to establish its own fund, and Coinbase’s potential role in some ETFs.
However, despite the general optimism, the SEC has not approved such a fund yet, and there are reasons for skepticism. Firstly, the above-mentioned filing related to Grayscale requires the SEC to review the company’s proposal but does not necessarily mandate approval.
On the other hand, reports suggest that progress on BlackRock’s ETF is premature. The code for BlackRock’s planned ETF recently appeared on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC) website. While this is considered a step forward for the fund, the code was later removed from the listings.
A former SEC lawyer told Bloomberg that the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF is not guaranteed.
