Grayscale, the world’s largest institutional crypto fund manager has launched a public campaign to put pressure on U.S. regulators for the highly anticipated conversion of its BTC Trust into a spot-based exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The investment firm Grayscale has launched a public campaign to encourage investors to add comments to their application with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The world’s largest digital asset manager is seeking approval to convert its popular BTC fund into a spot-based ETF but the financial regulator is still procrastinating. CEO Michael Sonnenshein tweeted the news that the quasi-online petition had gone live.
Pressuring the SEC
The campaign aims to garner enough support from U.S. institutional investors and finance professionals to make the SEC finally take notice and approve a spot-based crypto fund. As yet, the staunch regulator has only approved a handful of Bitcoin funds that are backed by futures contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), not the physical asset itself.
We invite you to share your perspectives with the SEC and make your voices heard! ?https://t.co/qvisSZjpDk pic.twitter.com/deErDjAaiY
— Sonnenshein (@Sonnenshein) February 22, 2022
Sonnenshein explained that there is a standard 240-day review period during which the public is invited to submit comments to the SEC for consideration as part of the application process. Their campaign aims to "educate and inspire" the investment community to take action and make their voices heard on the SEC's decision. A landing page has been created on their website to direct investors and executives on how to submit their comments to the SEC.
Comments mounting up
The comments were already mounting up over the weekend with almost 200 responses recorded at the time. Grayscale has now made it official, encouraging that list to grow. One of the more recent comments on the official SEC application page pointed out the obvious.
“The SECs job is to protect investors. The currents rules are not achieving this goal. The Grayscale Bitcoin trust as it currently stands is an inferior investment vehicle than its conversion to a spot ETF would allow it to be. The futures ETF that was approved is much riskier for investors and reflects a double standard by the administration.” - Comment on the SEC's decision to approve a futures ETF
Grayscale originally proposed the conversion of the world’s largest BTC fund into a spot ETF in April 2021, however, the SEC delayed the decision as it has done with many others for over a year now.
