{"id":68810,"date":"2022-10-19T13:58:25","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T10:58:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=68810"},"modified":"2025-09-07T16:11:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T13:11:09","slug":"blockchain-association-backs-grayscale-in-suit-against-the-sec","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/blockchain-association-backs-grayscale-in-suit-against-the-sec\/","title":{"rendered":"Blockchain Association backs Grayscale in suit against the SEC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The nonprofit Blockchain Association filed a court brief regarding the case of Grayscale Investments against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">1\/ Today we filed an amicus brief supporting <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grayscale?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">@Grayscale<\/a> in its suit against the SEC for rejecting its spot Bitcoin ETP application. <\/p>\n<p>We&#8217;re proud to take this momentous step supporting the crypto industry to provide American consumers greater access to these innovative products. <a href=\\\"https:\/\/t.co\/YTMxm432oG\\\">pic.twitter.com\/YTMxm432oG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Blockchain Association (@BlockchainAssn) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlockchainAssn\/status\/1582490567094972416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8220;We are proud to have taken this important step in support of the crypto industry, to provide American consumers with broader access to these innovative products,&#8221; the statement said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Speaking in the role of <span data-descr=\\\"Friend of the court (Latin, pl.) \u2014 a person who assists the court by presenting information relevant to the case. Not a party to the proceedings and not drawn into participation.\\\" class=\\\"old_tooltip\\\">amici curiae<\/span>, Blockchain Association called the regulator&#8217;s refusal to convert the GBTC trust into a <a href=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/chto-takoe-bitkoin-etf\/\\\">Bitcoin ETF<\/a> a violation. To date, the regulator has not approved any of the similar applications, but allowed exchange-traded funds based on Bitcoin futures from <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/sec-approves-futures-based-bitcoin-etfs-from-vaneck-and-valkyrie-investments\">VanEck, Valkyrie Investments<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/sec-quietly-approves-first-futures-based-bitcoin-etf\">ProShares<\/a>.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"twitter-tweet\\\">\n<p lang=\\\"en\\\" dir=\\\"ltr\\\">3\/ Americans are eager to own various products that offer exposure to Bitcoin, without needing to purchase Bitcoin directly. By denying this ETP, the SEC has forfeited their own ability to safely regulate and provide the necessary protections for all investors.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Blockchain Association (@BlockchainAssn) <a href=\\\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BlockchainAssn\/status\/1582490571318661120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\\\">October 18, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\\\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\\\" charset=\\\"utf-8\\\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8220;[\u2026] the agency arbitrarily decided to deny Grayscale&#8217;s spot ETPs despite significant demand for these products&#8221;, emphasized the organization.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>By denying Grayscale Investments\u2019 application, the Commission &#8220;has lost its own ability to safely regulate and provide the necessary protections for all investors,&#8221; the authors of the statement added.<\/p>\n<p>In their view, the SEC applies double standards in evaluating exchange-traded products.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\\\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\\\">\n<p>&#8220;[This] is not only bad policy, but also a violation of law. The Commission should treat similar cases equally,&#8221; said the Blockchain Association.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The statement was also supported by Coin Center, the Chamber of Digital Commerce and a technology industry trade group.<\/p>\n<p>On October 19, 2021, Grayscale <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/dcg-chief-confirms-plans-to-convert-grayscales-bitcoin-trust-into-an-etf\">filed an application<\/a> to convert the Bitcoin Trust GBTC into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF.<\/p>\n<p>On December 17 the SEC <a href=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/sec-perenesla-resheniya-po-zayavkam-bitwise-i-grayscale-na-zapusk-bitkoin-etf\/\\\">delayed<\/a> a decision on the application, and in February 2022 <a href=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/sec-perenesla-reshenie-po-zayavke-grayscale-na-zapusk-spotovogo-bitkoin-etf\/\\\">took this step again<\/a>. On June 30, the company <a href=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/grayscale-podala-v-sud-na-sec-iz-za-otkaza-konvertirovat-gbtc-v-etf\/\\\">filed suit against the regulator<\/a> after its filings were ultimately denied.<\/p>\n<p>In October, Grayscale Investments filed an opening brief in the case, describing the Commission&#8217;s position as <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/grayscale-labels-sec-stance-on-spot-bitcoin-etfs-as-discriminatory\">inconsistent and unfair<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the Wall Street Journal <a href=\\\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/v-wall-street-journal-raskritikovali-glavu-sec-iz-za-situatsii-s-bitkoin-etf\/\\\">accused<\/a> the head of the agency, Gary Gensler, of a &#8220;confusing&#8221; approach to approving a spot Bitcoin ETF.<\/p>\n<p>Also voicing opposition to the regulator were <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/mark-cuban-condemns-the-secs-approaches-to-regulating-cryptocurrencies\">billionaire Mark Cuban<\/a>, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/u-s-congressman-accuses-the-sec-of-unethical-conduct-toward-the-crypto-industry\">Tom Emmer<\/a> and Messari founder <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/messari-founder-calls-sec-stance-on-spot-bitcoin-etf-fraud\">Ryan Selkis<\/a>. According to the latter, Grayscale&#8217;s rejection constitutes fraud.<\/p>\n<p>Read ForkLog&#8217;s Bitcoin news in our <a href=\\\"https:\/\/telegram.me\/forklog\\\" target=\\\"_blank\\\" rel=\\\"nofollow noopener\\\">Telegram<\/a> \u2014 cryptocurrency news, prices and analysis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The nonprofit Blockchain Association filed a court brief regarding the Grayscale Investments case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":68811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1174,943,128,1211],"class_list":["post-68810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-blockchain-association","tag-grayscale-investments","tag-sec","tag-stock-market"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"23","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68812,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68810\/revisions\/68812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}