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Grayscale Reiterates Plans to Convert Bitcoin Trust to Spot ETF
Once the application is made, the SEC will have 75 days to review it.
Updated Mar 8, 2024, 4:34 p.m. Published Oct 17, 2021, 2:04 p.m.
Grayscale Investments reiterated in a tweet on Monday that it plans on applying to convert the world’s biggest bitcoin fund into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The communications director for Grayscale said the company would file to do so “once there’s official and verifiable evidence of the SEC’s comfort with the underlying #Bitcoin market.”
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She said that evidence for that comfort would “likely come in the form of a Bitcoin Futures ETF being deemed effective.” The Securities and Exchange Commission greenlighted the investment vehicle on Friday, and ProShares confirmed in an SEC filing that it will launch its bitcoin futures ETF on Tuesday.
What does that mean? Once there’s official and verifiable evidence of the SEC’s comfort with the underlying #Bitcoin market - likely in the form of a Bitcoin Futures ETF being deemed effective - the #NYSE Arca will file a document called the 19b-4 to convert $GBTC into an ETF.
— Jennifer Rosenthal (@jenn_rosenthal) October 18, 2021
While the exact timing of Grayscale’s intended filing may be new, the world’s largest digital asset manager has made no secret of its intent to seek approval for a spot bitcoin-based ETF once a futures-based one cleared the commission.
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Grayscale’s ETF would be backed by actual units of the cryptocurrency, not simply linked it via derivatives contracts such as futures. Should the proposal gain approval, it would be a further expansion of the leading cryptocurrency as a recognized investible asset.
Some analysts predict the $38.7 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), whose shares already trade in public stock markets, has no chance of winning approval anytime soon for its current plan to convert into an ETF backed by the cryptocurrency.
Once the filing is made, the SEC will have 75 days to review it.
Separately on Monday, Grayscale announced that three of its trusts focused on altcoins – Grayscale Zcash Trust, Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust and Grayscale Horizen Trust – are now available on the OTC Markets under the symbols ZCSH, GXLM and HZEN, respectively.
The move is part of Grayscale’s announced intention to eventually turn all of its private placement vehicles into ETFs, with the next step being to turn them into SEC reporting companies. It now has 9 publicly-quoted products, with its bitcoin and ethereum trusts also being SEC reporting firms.
Grayscale is a unit of Digital Currency Group, which is also the parent of CoinDesk.
UPDATE (Oct. 18, 13:47 UTC): Updated headline and story with information on Grayscale’s tweet.
UPDATE (Oct. 18, 16:57 UTC): Updated with information on Grayscale’s altcoin trusts trading on the OTC Markets at end of story..
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Exchange Review - March 2025
CoinDesk Data's monthly Exchange Review captures the key developments within the cryptocurrency exchange market. The report includes analyses that relate to exchange volumes, crypto derivatives trading, market segmentation by fees, fiat trading, and more.
Ano ang dapat malaman:
Trading activity softened in March as market uncertainty grew amid escalating tariff tensions between the U.S. and global trading partners. Centralized exchanges recorded their lowest combined trading volume since October, declining 6.24% to $6.79tn. This marked the third consecutive monthly decline across both market segments, with spot trading volume falling 14.1% to $1.98tn and derivatives trading slipping 2.56% to $4.81tn.
- Trading Volumes Decline for Third Consecutive Month: Combined spot and derivatives trading volume on centralized exchanges fell by 6.24% to $6.79tn in March 2025, reaching the lowest level since October. Both spot and derivatives markets recorded their third consecutive monthly decline, falling 14.1% and 2.56% to $1.98tn and $4.81tn respectively.
- Institutional Crypto Trading Volume on CME Falls 23.5%: In March, total derivatives trading volume on the CME exchange fell by 23.5% to $175bn, the lowest monthly volume since October 2024. CME's market share among derivatives exchanges dropped from 4.63% to 3.64%, suggesting declining institutional interest amid current macroeconomic conditions.
- Bybit Spot Market Share Slides in March: Spot trading volume on Bybit fell by 52.1% to $81.1bn in March, coinciding with decreased trading activity following the hack of the exchange's cold wallets in February. Bybit's spot market share dropped from 7.35% to 4.10%, its lowest since July 2023.
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