Grayscale has told the Securities and Exchange Commission it has no legal reasoning left to block the conversion of the asset manager’s flagship Bitcoin (BTC) fund to a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
On Sept. 5, Grayscale’s lawyers sent a letter to the SEC requesting the pair meet to discuss the next steps following the regulator’s court loss regarding the conversion of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).
“Now that the Court of Appeals has spoken, there is no available rationale that would distinguish a Bitcoin futures ETP from a spot Bitcoin ETP under the legal analysis previously adopted by the Commission in rejecting spot Bitcoin ETPs.”
Grayscale added it believes the SEC should conclude there are “no grounds” for treating the GBTC differently from Bitcoin futures ETFs whose filings “the Commission has previously approved.”
On Aug. 29, a United States Appeals Court ruled against the SEC’s denial of Grayscale’s application to convert its GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Grayscale said if there was any other reason for rejecting the conversion besides the Exchange Act’s requirement that rules be “designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices,” it would have already been made apparent.
“We are confident that it would have surfaced by now in one of the fifteen Commission orders that rejected spot Bitcoin filings even after Bitcoin futures ETPs began trading,” Grayscale wrote.
Grayscale added its fund conversion application has been pending for nearly three times longer than the length of time stipulated by the SEC’s rules.
Joseph A. Hall — who also penned Grayscale’s letter in July urging the SEC to approve all pending ETF applications together — concluded his latest letter by saying:
“We believe the Trust’s nearly one million investors deserve this fair playing field as quickly as possible.”
Since the Aug. 29 court ruling the GBTC discount — the percentage showing how far off an ETF is trading above or below its net asset value — has fallen to 19.9%.
GBTC’s discount was nearing negative 50% during the bear cycle bottom following the FTX collapse in December 2022.
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has resigned from the Labour Party.
The 53-year-old MP is the first to jump ship since the general election and in her resignation letter criticised the prime minister for accepting thousands of pounds worth of gifts.
She told Sir Keir Starmer the reason for leaving now is “the programme of policies you seem determined to stick to”, despite their unpopularity with the electorate and MPs.
In her letter she accused the prime minister and his top team of “sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice” which are “off the scale”.
“I’m so ashamed of what you and your inner circle have done to tarnish and humiliate our once proud party,” she said.
Since December 2019, the prime minister received £107,145 in gifts, benefits, and hospitality – a specific category in parliament’s register of MPs’ interests.
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Ms Duffield, who has previously clashed with the prime minister on gender issues, attacked the government for pursuing “cruel and unnecessary” policies as she resigned the Labour whip.
She criticised the decision to keep the two-child benefit cap and means-test the winter fuel payment, and accused the prime minister of “hypocrisy” over his acceptance of free gifts from donors.
“Since the change of government in July, the revelations of hypocrisy have been staggering and increasingly outrageous,” she said.
“I cannot put into words how angry I and my colleagues are at your total lack of understanding about how you have made us all appear.”
Ms Duffield also mentioned the recent “treatment of Diane Abbott”, who said she thought she had been barred from standing by Labour ahead of the general election, before Sir Keir said she would be allowed to defend her Hackney North and Stoke Newington seat for the party.
Her relationship with the Labour leadership has long been strained and her decision to quit the party comes after seven other Labour MPs were suspended for rebelling by voting for a motion calling for the two-child benefit cap to be abolished.
“Someone with far-above-average wealth choosing to keep the Conservatives’ two-child limit to benefit payments which entrenches children in poverty, while inexplicably accepting expensive personal gifts of designer suits and glasses costing more than most of those people can grasp – this is entirely undeserving of holding the title of Labour prime minister,” she said.
Ms Duffield said she will continue to represent her constituents as an independent MP, “guided by my core Labour values”.