Grayscale Investments has called for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve all spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications simultaneously if it approves any. This would ensure equal treatment to all applicants, according to a statement released by Grayscale on Thursday. The statement argued that an approval of only the listed proposals would grant an unfairly discriminatory and prejudicial first-mover advantage to these proposals.
The statement also suggested that the applicants’ work on a surveillance-sharing agreement with crypto exchange Coinbase may not meet the SEC’s requirements. “Without disputing the usefulness of information obtainable under a surveillance-sharing agreement with a spot bitcoin trading venue,” Grayscale said, “we believe the Commission’s prior decisions have already determined that such an agreement with a venue lacking compulsory investigative authority and oversight by a comprehensive market regulator does not satisfy Section 6(b)(5) in the absence of a surveillance-sharing agreement with a market of significant size that, like the CME bitcoin futures market, the Commission deems sufficiently ‘regulated.’”
Grayscale has previously filed a lawsuit against the SEC for denying its application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into an ETF. Last month saw a flurry of bitcoin spot ETF applications from large institutions such as BlackRock and VanEck.
In a letter highlighting the statement’s points, Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said Grayscale does not believe an introduction of a surveillance-sharing agreement with a spot bitcoin market is or should be the “silver bullet” to gaining approval of a spot bitcoin ETF.
“An approval that promotes investor protection and fairness for issuers should therefore be made simultaneously with approval of all proposed spot bitcoin ETPs, including those such as the Trust whose Rule 19b-4 filings were previously disapproved after lengthy Commission consideration,” said the statement. If the SEC decides to change course and approve one or more of the above stated spot bitcoin ETF applications, “it must do so in a fair and orderly manner,” the statement said.