Optimism surrounding the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF has helped to drive the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s discount to 10.35% below its net asset value, its lowest level since July 2021, per data from Ycharts. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) enables investors to trade shares in trusts that hold large pools of Bitcoin, with each share tracking the price of Bitcoin—albeit approximately. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has, to date, rejected each and every application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, including Grayscale’s—but in October 2023, the Court of Appeals ordered the regulator to review Grayscale’s application after the firm sued the SEC for refusing to allow the fund’s conversion into an ETF. While the SEC could still reject Grayscale’s application, it would need to find new grounds for doing so, its previous justification—that the futures Bitcoin market is not closely connected enough to the spot market—having been deemed insufficient. The court order has been accompanied by a wave of optimism over the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, following the entry of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, into the fray in June 2023. In recent weeks, BlackRock has continued to lay the groundwork for its own Bitcoin ETF, with a ticker listed by the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) in late October. The prospect of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval has buoyed the crypto market, with Bitcoin surging to an 18-month high of over $37,000 in the last week. At time of publication, Bitcoin has stabilized at around $37,000, trading flat on the day and up 5.4% in the last seven days.
The recent optimism over the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF has helped drive the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust discount to its lowest level since July 2021. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust enables investors to trade shares in trusts that hold large pools of Bitcoin, with each share tracking the price of Bitcoin closely. The SEC has rejected each and every application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, including Grayscale’s—but the Court of Appeals ordered the regulator to review Grayscale’s application in October 2023. The entry of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, into the fray in June 2023 has also contributed to the wave of optimism over the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. The prospect of a spot Bitcoin ETF approval has buoyed the crypto market, with Bitcoin surging to an 18-month high of over $37,000. This news is good for the crypto market, as it could lead to the approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF, which could make it easier for investors to invest in Bitcoin. #BitcoinETF #GrayscaleBitcoinTrust #Bitcoin #BlackRock #SEC #CryptoMarket
You can read more about this topic here: Decrypt: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Discount Shrinks as ETF Optimism Mounts
