Last week, Grayscale secured a landmark win against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a court ruling that laid out unambiguous principles for regulators to evaluate spot ETF applications, according to a report from broker Bernstein. This ruling has opened the door for the crypto industry to potentially get its first spot bitcoin ETF some time between mid-October and mid-March.
The asset management industry is expected to push beyond bitcoin and ether into areas including other top blockchains, such as Solana and Polygon, and even leading decentralized finance (DeFi) assets. This is a massive commercial opportunity for the asset management industry to generate healthy fees in a burgeoning asset class, the note added.
The strong showing in the courts (Ripple and Grayscale in 2 months), improved ETF chances and the progressive institutional interest, are positioning crypto for an unprecedented capital-led cycle, unlike the retail-led crypto cycles of the past, the report said.