Grayscale CEO Addresses SEC as Arbitrary on its Denial of Spot ETF

• Michael Sonnenshein argued that the SEC has been arbitrary when it rejected GBTC’s proposal.
• He added that the SEC has approved several Bitcoin futures ETF.
• Sonnenshein told that the investors would have received a couple of billion dollars if SEC approved the proposal.

Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of the American digital currency asset management company, Grayscale Investments, commented that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acted “arbitrarily”, referring to its rejection of Grayscale’s proposal for being an approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

On February 25, in Peter McCormack’s podcast “What Bitcoin Did”, Sonnenshein talked about the SEC’s violation of the Administrative Procedures Act by denying Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)’s conversion.

Previously, in June 2022, the company updated its official page with the SEC’s denial of GBTC’s “conversion”, citing:

The SEC is failing to apply consistent treatment to Bitcoin investment vehicles as evidenced by its denial of GBTC’s application for conversion to a spot ETF, but approval of several Bitcoin futures ETFs.

Corroborating the company’s previous statement, Sonnenshein commented that by rejecting “GBTC’s conversion” while approving Bitcoin Futures ETF, the SEC has acted arbitrarily.

Significantly, the Grayscale’s official page also cited the SEC’s “discriminatory treatment”, noting:

It is the SEC’s arbitrary and capricious actions and discriminatory treatment of issuers that necessitates elevating this matter to the courts in the best interest of GBTC and our investors.

In addition, he conveyed his dilemma in the company’s current situation where he “can’t imagine” why the SEC doesn’t want GBTC to be a spot ETF, which would help it to protect the investors and return the true asset value to them.

Furthermore, he reiterated that a “couple billion dollars” of capital would have immediately gone right back into investors’ pockets, on an “overnight basis,” if the SEC showed a “green signal” towards GBTC’s request.

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