Grayscale's Appeal Pivotal for Bitcoin ETFs Survival, Asserts SEC's Hester Peirce
Summary:
SEC Commissioner Hester 'Crypto Mom' Peirce has credited the survival of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to Grayscale's appeal in 2023. Despite the recent approval of 11 spot Bitcoin ETF applications, she critiqued the regulator's handling of such products and their delayed approval. On January 10th, multiple firms received sanctioning of rule changes that allow a spot Bitcoin ETF to be listed and traded on exchanges. These ETFs are expected to be ready for trade by January 11th.
The survival of Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has likely been due to the successful appeal of Grayscale last year, as opined by Hester 'Crypto Mom' Peirce, an SEC Commissioner. She discussed in a statement dated January 10, how issuers have been striving to push a spot Bitcoin ETF through the system for over ten years. It could have continued much longer had it not been for an outside intervention from the DC Circuit. This outside intervention can be traced back to the U.S. District Court of Appeals overturning SEC's dismissal of Grayscale Investment's spot Bitcoin ETF application in October 2023. Afterwards, the SEC was ordered to reassess Grayscale's application to turn its Bitcoin trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Among the three Commissioners who gave the thumbs up to the spot Bitcoin ETF was reportedly Peirce. Both Gary Gensler and Mark Uyeda allegedly also approved the product, while Caroline Crenshaw and Jaime Lizarraga reportedly stood in opposition.
Peirce stated that despite SEC's decision to greenlight 11 spot Bitcoin ETF applications, it doesn't justify the partial treatment of spot Bitcoin products. She advocated that the regulator should have admitted their mistake in postponing the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. In her own words, SEC's defense for its change of heart does not cut the mustard. She linked these measures to the BlackRock report about cutting down its workforce by 3% before the Bitcoin ETF deadline. Peirce also remarked that SEC was caught unprepared by Grayscale's ruling last year. She observed the regulator had been wasting opportunities for ten years. If the same standard for other commodity-based ETP was utilized, these products could have gotten approved long ago. However, the bravery to do so only surfaced when their bluff was called out by a court.
On January 10th, SEC greenlit the 19b-4 applications from various firms, namely ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex and Franklin Templeton - sanctioning rule changes that permit a spot Bitcoin ETF to be traded on the respective exchanges. In the wake of the approval, James Seyffart, Bloomberg ETF analyst, predicted that the ETFs would be set to trade by January 11th, provided the S-1 applications get the go-ahead. According to Brett Harrison, ex-FTX US and X Hall of Flame, the initiation of Bitcoin ETF trading is expected to break records.
Published At
1/11/2024 3:55:55 AM
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