Grayscale brings a great bench win against SEC over Bitcoin ETF

August 30, 2023: On Thursday, Grayscale brings a great bench win against SEC over Bitcoin ETF.

According to Coin Metrics, Bitcoin bounced following the ruling to $27,911.67. The move lifted cryptocurrencies broadly and crypto equities higher.

Investors and different drive players have closely monitored Grayscale’s lawsuit against the SEC as a critical catalyst that would shake up a market marred by low volatility and liquidity. Earlier this month, bitcoin trading volatility reduced to its lowest level in more than four years. Investors had been staying on the sidelines for more regulatory transparency on crypto activity, whether through new legislation out of Congress or the ability to launch a spot bitcoin ETF.

Several bitcoin futures ETFs have already been supported in the U.S.

“The rejection of Grayscale’s proposal was arbitrary and capricious. The Commission decreased to adequately describe why it approved listing two bitcoin fortunes ETPs but not Grayscale’s proposed bitcoin ETP,” the court said in the ruling. “In the absence of a coherent explanation, this, unlike regulatory therapy of such products, is unlawful. We therefore grant Grayscale’s plea for review and vacate the Commission’s order.”

Tuesday’s legislation may increase the chances that the SEC will approve other bitcoin ETF applications, including that of BlackRock, whose filing in late June caused one of bitcoin’s big rallies this year, as well as Fidelity, WisdomTree, VanEck and Invesco, and others. A U.S. bitcoin ETF would provide a way to get direction to bitcoin without holding it, which would ask retail and institutional investors and wealth managers into the market.

“Today’s judgment reaffirms that a bitcoin ETF in the U.S. is a matter of when, not if,” said Steve Kurz, Internationalised Head of Asset Management at Galaxy, which meant with Invesco for its bitcoin ETF. “For digital assets to continue flourishing, they must be available to all investors.

We believe the ETF structure can enable more significant access to and transparency across cryptocurrency investing and help further democratize the asset class.”