Gary Gensler, chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), has acknowledged the significance of Grayscale’s court victory in the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Despite the SEC’s history of denying similar applications since 2013, Gensler revealed in an interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box that the court’s decision in favor of Grayscale in August 2023 altered the SEC’s stance on the crypto investment vehicle.
“We had disapproved a number of these [applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF] over the years, and something had changed. I’m a deep believer in the rule of law and respect for the courts, and taking a new court decision into consideration, we move forward. I think this is the most sustainable path forward.” Gensler clarified, however, that the approval was not an endorsement of Bitcoin. “We do not endorse [Bitcoin].”
In June 2022, the SEC had rejected Grayscale’s application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF, citing that the product was not “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.” Grayscale responded by filing a petition for review with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. This resulted in a significant victory for Grayscale on August 29, 2023, when the court ruled that the SEC’s legal ground for denial was insufficient and the case should return to the Commission for review.
This legal battle proved to be a success for Grayscale. On Jan. 10, the SEC approved ten ETFs holding Bitcoin as their underlying asset. The inaugural trading session saw significant activity, with Grayscale’s GBTC accounting for $2.3 billion in trade volume — almost half of the overall $4.5 billion volume in the day, according to data from Yahoo Finance.
BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) ranked second, with a trading volume of around $1 billion. BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink, also speaking with CNBC’s Squawk Box program, expressed his belief in cryptocurrency as an asset class, not a currency.
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| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | North America |
| Countries | 🇺🇸 |
| Sentiment | neutral |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Rune Christensen, Gary Gensler, Larry Fink |
| Companies | U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust, CNBC’s Squawk Box, United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Grayscale |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) |
