Grayscale says spot Bitcoin ETF approval is a matter of time

The debut of a spot exchange-traded fund based on the first cryptocurrency is more a “when, not if” question, said Grayscale Investments’ chief legal officer Craig Salm. The Block cited his remarks on SiriusXM’s radio show.

Salm expressed optimism about the launch of the new product because the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided not to appeal the court order converting GBTC into a Bitcoin-ETF.

The lawyer also said that Grayscale spends a lot of time in Washington as part of its engagement with authorities to discuss the regulatory strategy for the crypto market.

According to him, lawmakers are currently considering two bills: a comprehensive framework for the entire digital-asset industry and a separate one for stablecoins.

“The fact that we have two bills that have passed through committees and been sent to the House of Representatives is remarkable progress for Washington that we have never seen before in the crypto sphere,” Salm said.

Earlier the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s discount to net asset value fell to 15.87%, the lowest since December 2021. The catalyst was rising expectations for the imminent launch of the Bitcoin ETF.

Former SEC lawyer John Reed Stark ruled out approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. However, experts Bernstein and former chairman SEC Jay Clayton assessed the odds of a new wave of contenders as high.

In July, the SEC began reviewing applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock, VanEck, Invesco, Fidelity Investments and WisdomTree. Later, Franklin Templeton joined them.

So far the regulator has issued no approvals for spot Bitcoin ETFs on digital gold. The Commission has granted an exception for such products based on Bitcoin futures from ProShares and Valkyrie Investments.

In August, the SEC delayed its decision on several Bitcoin ETFs by at least mid-October. By the end of September the regulator pushed back the review of applications to January 2024.

On October 16, digital gold hit $30,000 amid a fake Cointelegraph report of BlackRock’s application approval.