- The Blockchain Association has filed an amicus brief in Grayscale’s legal struggle with SEC.
- Shareholders like Coinbase, Susquehanna, and Silvergate wrote letters to show support.
- A panel of three judges will be appointed after the submission of the final brief in December.
Grayscale Investments expects significant support from investors, researchers, and others in the cryptocurrency industry in its legal struggle with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the first exchange-traded spot Bitcoin fund in the United States.
After receiving over 11,000 letters supporting the asset manager’s intention to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin, Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said the company expects similar support for Tuesday’s deadline.
Shareholders of the trust, businesses like Coinbase, Susquehanna, and Silvergate, and trade associations like the Blockchain Association and the Association of Digital Asset Markets, sent letters to the trust.
Amicus curiae briefs, also known as a friend of the court briefs, are submitted by individuals or groups who have a significant interest in the matter but do not represent a party to the action.
The asset manager said that the Commission is treating spot Bitcoin ETFs with “particular harshness” compared to other types of investments in its 100-page opening brief, submitted last week.
The SEC has frequently denied funds that hold bitcoin directly, including Grayscale’s, but has approved several bitcoin futures ETFs.
The brief also argues that the Commission’s decision “harms the 850,000 investors who own shares in the trust” by preventing them from receiving more than $4 billion in unrealized value.
The trust’s transformation into an ETF would remove the record-high discount (36%) that GBTC has been trading at in relation to the value of its underlying assets this month.
A panel of three judges will be chosen following the submission of the final brief in December, and dates for the oral arguments will be set. Salm estimates that the dispute may continue for up to nine more months.
If Grayscale loses on appeal, it may request an en banc hearing with the entire D.C. Circuit or file an appeal with the United States Supreme Court.
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