<\/p>\n
Grayscale Investments\u2019 legal chief said the firm is ready to compete with the long line of prospective bitcoin ETF issuers as it seeks to convert its bitcoin trust (GBTC) to an ETF as soon as possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But one ETF research director notes that Grayscale could lose assets to some of the largest names in the fund world as a bitcoin fund fee war likely looms.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Grayscale\u2019s court win against the US Securities and Exchange Commission<\/a> is a victory for the bitcoin ecosystem more broadly, Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm acknowledged in a Thursday interview with Bloomberg.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Grayscale bitcoin ETF, if approved, would stand out from others, he argued \u2014 even as financial giants like BlackRock and Fidelity look to launch similar offerings.\u00a0<\/p>\n GBTC<\/a> <\/strong>launched in 2013 and has $16.9 billion in assets under management. Its shares have recently traded at a steep discount to its underlying bitcoin \u2014 a problem solved if it converts to an ETF, Salm said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u200b\u200b\u201dWe\u2019re the only ones with an actual fund today with AUM, trading volume and investors,\u201d the Grayscale legal chief added in the interview<\/a>. \u201cThe others are an idea on paper, but we\u2019re definitely looking forward to seeing them compete in the market as well.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to BlackRock and Fidelity, other applicants include Bitwise, Invesco, WisdomTree, VanEck, Valkyrie, Global X, 21Shares and Ark Invest \u2014 the latter two of which have filed together for a single product.\u00a0<\/p>\n The SEC is still considering all the proposals<\/a>, a process that can last up to 240 days from when each proposal was published into the federal register. That puts the various final deadlines for the regulator to rule on them between January and April, depending on the application.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of others getting involved in the space, that\u2019s extremely validating,\u201d Salm said. \u201cWe\u2019re always ready for a world with multiple spot bitcoin ETFs<\/a>. We think investors should have a choice here.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite Salm\u2019s confidence that a converted GBTC would be differentiated from other proposed would-be bitcoin ETFs, investors might not stick with Grayscale<\/a>, according to Neena Mishra, director of ETF research at Zacks Investment Research.<\/p>\n GBTC currently charges a 2% annual fee. The firm has said it would lower GBTC\u2019s fees in the case of an ETF conversion, but has not specified by how much.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Grayscale spokesperson did not immediately comment on Friday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n But Grayscale would have to bring down its expense ratio on a converted GBTC \u201csignificantly,\u201d Mishra said, noting that BlackRock and Fidelity are among the lowest-cost ETF providers.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> As potential crypto ETF \u2018fee war\u2019 looms, what will spot bitcoin ETFs cost?<\/a><\/p>\n If the SEC ends up allowing spot bitcoin ETFs to launch at the same time, brand and expense ratio will be important differentiators, she added \u2014 as would marketing efforts after launch.<\/p>\n Dave Nadig, a financial futurist at VettaFi, previously told Blockworks that fund volumes \u2014 likely driven by institutions \u2014 would also be key to initial bitcoin ETF success if the SEC allows multiple to launch at once.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t really think GBTC will attract new money from ETF investors just due to its history,\u201d Mishra said. \u201cIn fact, if GBTC\u2019s fee remains high after conversion compared to competing products, some investors might shift from GBTC to other ETFs. Advisers and ETF investors are more comfortable with a BlackRock or Fidelity product than with GBTC.\u201d<\/p>\n Salm\u2019s comments came after a three-judge panel in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on Tuesday that the regulator denying GBTC\u2019s conversion to an ETF was \u201carbitrary and capricious\u201d in the wake of its approval of bitcoin futures ETFs.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> What Grayscale\u2019s win against the SEC actually means<\/a><\/p>\n The SEC, which has 45 days to appeal, said Tuesday it was \u201creviewing the court\u2019s decision to determine next steps.\u201d<\/p>\n The court ruling does not automatically allow GBTC to convert to an ETF, but rather informs the SEC that it can\u2019t deny the conversion on the grounds it previously used.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The DC Circuit Court of Appeals\u2019 decision \u201cgreatly limits options for the SEC on the matter of Grayscale\u2019s request,\u201d Mark Connors, head of research at crypto investment firm 3iQ, said in a Wednesday X post<\/a>. But, he noted, the next steps remain up in the air.<\/p>\n \u201cThe court did not distinguish the cleaner path to an ETF that Fidelity, Blackrock and others are seeking from a standing start, relative to Grayscale\u2019s more circuitous, and potentially murkier route,\u201d Connors added.<\/p>\n Mishra told Blockworks it\u2019s possible the SEC<\/a> will approve one of the new filings by a traditional ETF provider before giving the green light to GBTC\u2019s conversion.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhile no one knows what the SEC will decide, they should approve all on the same day if they want to appear fair,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Get the day\u2019s top crypto news and insights delivered to your email every evening.\u00a0Subscribe to Blockworks\u2019 free newsletter<\/a>\u00a0now.<\/strong><\/p>\n Want alpha sent directly to your inbox? Get degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance, can\u2019t-miss tweets and more from\u00a0Blockworks Research\u2019s Daily Debrief<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Can\u2019t wait? Get our news the fastest way possible.\u00a0Join us on Telegram<\/a>\u00a0and follow us on\u00a0Google News<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grayscale Investments\u2019 legal chief said the firm is ready to compete with the long line of prospective bitcoin ETF issuers as it seeks to convert its bitcoin trust (GBTC) to an ETF as soon as possible.\u00a0 But one ETF research director notes that Grayscale could lose assets to some of the largest names in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-148526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148526","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148526"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148526\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148529,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148526\/revisions\/148529"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148526"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148526"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148526"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fee competition from financial giants awaits<\/h2>\n
Could GBTC conversion lag other bitcoin ETF launches?<\/h2>\n
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