GrayScale Reveals Its Plan For A Bitcoin ETF

Grayscale Trust, the largest cryptocurrency asset manager has revealed its aspirations of launching a Bitcoin ETF amid growing demand for a fully regulated Exchange Traded Fund based on Bitcoin. The firm in its official press release said that they are aware of the growing discussion around Bitcoin ETF and also said that they are fully committed to converting Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a Bitcoin ETF.

First and foremost we wish to make clear: we are 100% to converting GBTC into an ETF.

Grayscale launched its first product in the form of Bitcoin Trust back in 2013 and has grown to become a $38.84 billion trust and one of the leading choice of Wall Street investors to invest in a Bitcoin-based institutional product. Since SEC considers Bitcoin and ETH as an asset class, thus the trust funds based on these two assets are considered to be a safe product to invest in. However, many believe that Grayscale could face the ire of regulatory bodies for offering other crypto products.

Grayscale First Applied For Bitcoin ETF in 2016

The official blog from Grayscale revealed that the company has been looking into prospects of Bitcoin ETF for both commercial and regulatory aspects and filed for their first ETF as early as 2016. The firm said,

While several firms have submitted Bitcoin ETF applications in the form of an S-1 or 19b-4 to the SEC, we are confident in our current positioning and engagement with the SEC.

Today, we remain committed to converting GBTC into an ETF although the timing will be driven by the regulatory environment

Only a couple of weeks ago, Grayscale has added several open positions for Bitcoin ETF indicating the possibility of filing for a Bitcoin ETF soon. There are a total of 8 Bitcoin ETF applications pending before the SEC at the moment and with GBTC committing to convert to an ETF the number goes up to 9.