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Spot Bitcoin ETF Talks: SEC Meets Grayscale for the Second Time

News Desk 2 December 2023

1 minute read

The US SEC convened with Grayscale for the second time, on November 29, regarding their application to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF. Details of the meeting with the SEC’s trading and markets staff weren’t disclosed, but ETF expert Nate Geraci hinted at progress, saying, “we’re approaching finish line.”

Another meeting yesterday b/w Grayscale & SEC…

Absolutely fascinated to see how this all plays out, especially timing of GBTC uplisting vs launch of competing spot btc ETFs.

Btw, if you're tired of me tweeting about this, good news is I think we're approaching finish line. pic.twitter.com/lsngOSe57z
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) December 1, 2023

The SEC held meetings with Grayscale on three other dates starting in 2022, the most recent of which occurred last month on November 20. Two additional sessions involved members of Grayscale’s custody partner, Coinbase.

Those meetings concerned a proposed rule change that would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. Grayscale plans to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF.

Grayscale appointed John Hoffman, previously with Invesco, a key ETF-focused asset management company with $420 billion in assets, to head the ETF sales and partnership team, aiming to enhance ETF application approvals. Hoffman, an ETF veteran, held various roles at Invesco over 17 years, specializing in ETF institutional investor sales and strategy.

On Friday, Bitcoin surged by 2.60%, closing at $38,721 after a 0.37% loss the previous day, marking the first visit to the $39,000 level since May 2022. Investor excitement over potential SEC approval of BTC-spot ETFs spurred demand. Bloomberg Intelligence ETF Analyst James Seyffart shared updates, fueling expectations for a batch approval in the New Year.

The SEC engaged in discussions with various asset managers recently. Notably, BlackRock meetings on November 28 and 20 focused on in-kind versus cash redemption models for their iShares spot Bitcoin ETF. Similar discussions occurred with other firms like Hashdex, Bitwise, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco, 21Shares (representing Ark Invest), but there were no meetings documented for WisdomTree, Valkyrie, or GlobalX regarding their spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

Despite these disclosed meetings, the SEC hasn’t indicated plans to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF publicly.