The institutional asset manager Grayscale has announced that it will convert its GBTC Trust into an exchange-traded fund once the US Securities and Exchange Commission becomes “comfortable” with the recently approved Bitcoin futures ETFs.
In an Oct. 18 Twitter thread, Grayscale Communications Director Jennifer Rosenthal, said that the asset manager would proceed to offer an exchange-traded fund, or ETF, when “the SEC has formally expressed its comfort with the underlying Bitcoin market.” The offering would convert the asset manager’s Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which first listed in 2013, into an ETF.
“Once there is official and verifiable evidence of the SEC’s comfort with the underlying Bitcoin market, likely in the form of a Bitcoin futures ETF that is deemed to be cash, the NYSE Arca will submit a document called 19b-4 to convert USD GBTC in an ETF, ”said Rosenthal.
The announcement comes after ProShares said that its Bitcoin (BTC) futures-linked ETF will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BITO starting tomorrow. Applications to the SEC show that the regulator also accepted the registration application for Valkyrie’s Bitcoin Strategy ETF shares to be listed on Nasdaq, with more potential follow-up – the SEC currently has several crypto ETF applications under review.
Grayscale also added three cryptocurrencies available to trade through its suite of crypto investment trust products. The firm said that Grayscale Zcash Trust, Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust, and Grayscale Horizen Trust are now listed on the OTCQX Best Market under the ticker symbols ZCSH, GXLM, and HZEN, respectively.
According to Grayscale, all three funds are not subject to the SEC’s filing and disclosure requirements. The vehicles provide investors with a way to gain exposure to the tokens without directly investing in them. Grayscale offers six other crypto investment products with exposure to BTC, Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum Classic (ETC) and Litecoin (LTC), in addition to a basket of cryptocurrencies through its Digital Large Cap Fund.
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