The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested public comment on Grayscale Investments' spot bitcoin ETF. Intelligence analyst Eric Balciunas, 95% support the launch of a financial instrument.
In October 2021, the founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Grayscale Investments, Barry Silbert, confirmed plans to transform the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an exchange-traded fund.
According to the analyst’s screenshot, once the futures ETF is approved, “there is no point in banning a physical-backed pure bitcoin ETP.” The author noted that the US is "already lagging behind other countries like Canada" in approving the spot option.
“We need to stay competitive. Bitcoin is currently a secure asset class that has never been hacked and has been generating excellent returns year after year.
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In another tweet, Balciunas quotes an investor who invested in GBTC. In his opinion, the SEC "protects the rich."
One of the participants in the discussion drew attention to the fact that the stock market can be as manipulated and unstable as cryptocurrency. He cited the GameStop stock incident as one example.
On October 19, 2021, Grayscale applied to convert a trust-based on digital gold into an exchange-traded fund based on the first cryptocurrency.
On December 17, the SEC delayed the decision until February 6, 2022.
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Earlier, the regulator approved applications for the launch of ETFs based on bitcoin futures from VanEck and Valkyrie Investments, as well as ProShares. Grayscale Investments called the SEC's actions "arbitrary and illegal."
In December, the regulator rejected WisdomTree's application to launch a spot Bitcoin ETF. Previously, the Commission made a similar decision regarding a similar proposal from VanEck.