Grayscale wants to turn the world's biggest Bitcoin fund into an ETF
BNN Bloomberg
Grayscale Investments LLC and the New York Stock Exchange filed to convert the world’s biggest Bitcoin fund into an ETF, appealing to regulators for approval just as its wildly popular vehicle is beset with competition.
Grayscale Investments LLC and the New York Stock Exchange filed to convert the world’s biggest Bitcoin fund into an ETF, appealing to regulators for approval just as its wildly popular vehicle is beset with competition.
The application to flip the US$40 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (ticker GBTC) lands on the same day as the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) debuts, becoming the first exchange-traded fund in the U.S. investing in futures on the digital asset. While the Securities and Exchange Commission has allowed the derivatives-based product to launch, it has yet to permit the kind of structure used by Grayscale, which directly holds the largest cryptocurrency.
Grayscale’s filing starts a window for the SEC to reject or delay the GBTC conversion application. Michael Sonnenshein, the asset manager’s chief executive officer, has stated the firm is “100 per cent committed” to turning GBTC into an ETF as soon as U.S. regulators allow.
Grayscale hired a global ETF head in August to further those efforts. With BITO’s launch, physical Bitcoin ETF approval is likely only a matter of time, Sonnenshein said.
“We are of the firm belief that because the futures and the spot pricing for Bitcoin are inextricably tied, that we have the willingness to allow or clear the way for a Bitcoin futures ETF in the market, and also clear the way for a spot ETF,” Sonnenshein said in an interview. GBTC currently holds roughly 3.4 per cent of the world’s supply of Bitcoin, according to Grayscale.
