Grayscale Bitcoin ETF decision could happen this week, say pundits

August 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

The pending Grayscale ruling could impact the race for an approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.

Grayscale Investments, which has been seeking to convert its Bitcoin (BTC) trust into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, could be getting a decision on its lawsuit against the federal securities regulator before the week’s end.

In an Aug. 11 Twitter post, Scott Johnsson, a general partner of Van Buren Capital explained that law clerks in the United States District Courts generally cycle out in August, pushing judges to clear out the caseload “before the new guard arrives.”

He noted that 30 out of 32 cases in March of 2021 and 2022 were heard by United States District Courts within 160 days of oral testimony, which also landed them in August, adding that it has also been 160 days since Grayscale delivered its oral arguments in its suit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on March 7.

March '21/'22 cases with decisions within 160 days of oral: 30/32 (94%)

Days since Grayscale (March '23) oral: 160 days

Why should we expect August? Because law clerks for DC generally cycle in/out this month, so judges aim to clear prior caseload before the new guard arrives. https://t.co/vVj0dHus90
— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) August 14, 2023

As of now, including Grayscale, there are only a small number of unresolved March-argued cases that remain, Johnsson added.

Meanwhile, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart says the decision could even come as early as Aug. 15, noting the date has been his “theoretical Grayscale lawsuit decision date” for some time.

8/15 has been my theoretical Grayscale lawsuit decision date for a while now but it’s really just an educated guess. I didn’t even do detailed analysis on the court decisions like @SGJohnsson did. But I did a little bit of it and also had convos with @NYCStein about timelines
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) August 14, 2023

Johnsson added in his thread that Seyffart’s prediction is a “pretty decently good bet.”

In June 2022, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected Grayscale’s application to convert its GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF.

In response, Grayscale sued the securities regulator, saying it was acting arbitrarily by failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.

A number of industry commentators, including ARK Invest's Cathie Wood and ETF analyst Nate Geraci have tipped Grayscale to win the lawsuit.

A lot of noise out there, so here’s my formal prediction on spot bitcoin ETF…

First, I think Grayscale wins lawsuit.

Second, combo of Grayscale lawsuit win + COIN SSA is enough for SEC approval IMO.

In other words, I think we’re getting a spot bitcoin ETF. Like close to 100%.
— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) August 9, 2023

Grayscale recently voiced that the SEC should approve all Bitcoin spot ETF applications simultaneously to prevent firms from having an advantage over other applicants.

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Stablecoin dominance slides as market cap falls to near 2-year lows: CCData

July 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin spot etf

After 16 consecutive months of decline, the stablecoin market dominance has fallen to 10.3% of the total crypto market capitalization.

The market capitalization of stablecoins has hit the lowest level since August 2021 coming on the back of 16 consecutive months of decline, a new report says.

Cryptocurrency analytics platform CCData released a report on July 20 saying the stablecoin market cap fell 0.82% from the start of the month until July 17, taking the sector's market cap to $127 billion.

Stablecoin market dominance took a slight fall and is currently at 10.3%, dropping from 10.5% in June.

Our latest Stablecoins & CBDCs Report is now live!

Key Highlights:
✔️16-month fall in stablecoin market cap, now at $127bn
✔️ $USDT at $0.73, $USDC at $0.82 on #Binance.US
✔️ $USDP's largest cap drop since 2020, now at $593mn

Full Report https://t.co/A9rFx6pbJx
— CCData (@CCData_io) July 20, 2023

Of the top ten stablecoins, Pax Dollar (USDP) was hit hardest, falling 43.1% to $563 million in July — its lowest figure since December 2020.

CCData believes the fall was largely attributed to MakerDAO — a decentralized autonomous organization behind the Maker protocol — which elected to remove $500 million of USDP from its reserves because it failed to accrue additional revenue.

Tether (USDT), the largest stablecoin by market cap, managed to record its all-time high market cap of $83.8 billion as of July 17, increasing its stablecoin market cap dominance to 65.9%.

The market cap of USD Coin (USDC) and Binance USD (BUSD) fell 3.01% and 4.57% to $26.9 billion and $3.96 billion, respectively. For USDC, it is the seventh consecutive month of decline in its market cap and the lowest since June 2021.

*Most stablecoins market caps have remained relatively stable since May, except for USDP which has fallen 43.1%. Source: CCData.*

Despite consecutive falls, stablecoin trading volumes increased 16.6% to about $483 billion in June, recording the first monthly increase since March.

CCData believes the lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the surge in spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund filings contributed to the increase in stablecoin trading volumes last month.

Another major event in June was the suspension of fiat deposits on Binance.US due to the SEC’s lawsuit against the firm. CCData said this led USDT and USDC to depeg from the U.S. dollar on the exchange.

“The suspension of fiat deposits has led to a drastic decline in the liquidity of the [USDT and USDC] stablecoins, resulting in a discount of around 27% and 18% respectively.”

The decentralized stablecoin market, which includes Dai (DAI), Frax (FRAX) and USDD (USDD) increased its market cap by 0.43% to $7.52 billion in July — the first positive month since February. The market cap, however, is still 78.1% down from its all-time high of $34.3 billion in April.

The beginning of this downward trend was triggered by the collapse of the Terra Luna ecosystem and the near 100% depeg of the algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC).

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Cboe refiles 5 Bitcoin ETFs to include Coinbase surveillance agreements

July 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

21shares

The surveillance-sharing agreements are a measure recommended by the SEC in March, which says they can prevent fraud and protect investors.

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets has amended five spot Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) applications to include a surveillance-sharing agreement (SSA) with Coinbase.

On July 11, Cboe amended filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the ETFs from Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and the joint fund by ARK Invest and 21Shares.

Cboe said it had "reached an agreement on terms with Coinbase" to enter into the SSA's which were settled on June 21. The initial filings for the ETFs stated the parties were "expecting to enter" an SSA prior to potentially offering the ETFs.

The SSAs are an attempt to meet the SEC's standards aimed at preventing fraudulent conduct and protecting investors, as outlined by the regulator on March 10:

“[An exchange needs] a comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size related to the underlying or reference bitcoin assets.”

Spot Bitcoin ETF applications have been a focus point for the industry lately. The filings by Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie follow the $10 trillion asset management firm BlackRock which also filed an ETF for SEC approval.

On June 29, the U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq also refiled its application to list BlackRock's ETF, similarly inclusive of an SSA with Coinbase.

Cboe's filings pushed Coinbase (COIN) shares up nearly 10% on June 11, the highest price it's reached since August 16, according to Google Finance.

*Coinbase’s share price jumped nearly 10% with the latest SSA-related filing amendments. Source: Google Finance*

Despite the involvement with Bitcoin ETF applications, Coinbase is currently battling out a lawsuit with the SEC for allegedly offering cryptocurrencies the regulator considers to be unregistered securities.

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BlackRock ETF stirs US Bitcoin buying as research says ‘get off zero’

July 9, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin is a must-own as the world's only truly scarce asset, analysis argues, as U.S. BTC accumulation takes a leg up.

Bitcoin (BTC) will suck in “all prosperity gains” in future and leave behind those who have no exposure as a result, a new prediction says.

In a Twitter thread on July 8, investor Luke Broyles delivered a bold vision of how Bitcoin would become “society’s base money.”

Investor tells would-be Bitcoin buyers: "Get off zero"

What started off as a commentary on how artificial intelligence (AI) is welcoming BTC soon became a dramatic outline of how it should end up as the world’s go-to currency.

For Broyles, Bitcoin’s key attribute — a fixed, immutable supply — makes it unique as a future-proof asset.

“Every innovation (even AI) will rush as quickly as possible to competitively force prices down. Every country will rush as quickly as possible to print currency to force prices up and sustain credit markets. Both of these forces will increase in speed,” he wrote.

BTC, meanwhile, will remain constant in its emission, and as a result, even a tiny exposure is a world away from nothing at all.

“We have less in common with the future than the past... Bitcoin is trading for hundreds of millions of political currency units in many nations already. But the ACTUAL big deal is that all prosperity gains from all future innovations will flow into society's base money- BTC,” Broyles continued.

“This is why it is CRUCIAL for people to ‘get off zero.’ Saying ‘Bitcoin is digital gold’ is like saying a locomotive is an iron horse.”

*Bitcoin supply dynamics data. Source: Luke Broyles/Twitter*

His perspective chimes with that recently published by Arthur Hayes, former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange, BitMEX.

As Cointelegraph reported, Hayes believes that AI will instinctively choose BTC as its financial lifeblood, again thanks to its unique qualities compared to other assets, including gold.

As a result, AI alone could push the BTC price past $750,000 per token.

BTC supply dominance hits "inflection point"

The race to secure the remaining BTC supply, meanwhile, may have already started.

Broyles argued that Bitcoin liquidity in fact peaked during the March 2020 cross-market crash, and will never retrace its steps since.

When the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, announced a Bitcoin spot-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) filing, meanwhile, U.S. BTC activity rocketed.

As noted by on-chain analytics firm Glassnode, the U.S. appears to be reassessing its own exposure.

“Following the Blackrock Bitcoin ETF request announcement on June 15th, the share of Bitcoin supply held/traded by US entities has experienced a notable uptick, marking a potential inflection point in supply dominance if the trend is sustained,” it commented on July 8.

An accompanying chart showed the differences in regional BTC supply ownership change.

*BTC Regional Year-over-Year Supply Change annotated chart. Source: Glassnode/Twitter*

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This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Blackrock’s spot Bitcoin ETF renews optimism, sparks wave of new filings

June 21, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin spot etf

Investment managers WisdomTree and Invesco have filed for spot Bitcoin ETFs, hot on the heels of BlackRock.

At least two investment firms have made new filings for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF) following investment colossus BlackRock’s move to lodge a similar application for its own spot Bitcoin ETF on June 15.

New York-based asset management fund WisdomTree is the most recent investment firm to lodge a new filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF.

According to a June 21 filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), WisdomTree requested that the SEC allow it to list its “WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust” on the Cboe BZX Exchange under the ticker “BTCW.”

WisdomTree has filed for spot bitcoin ETF h/t @NateGeraci pic.twitter.com/JwXj8rTs2X
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 20, 2023

WisdomTree has applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF twice before. Its first application was rejected by the SEC in December 2021. It’s second application was rejected once again in October 2022, with the financial regulator citing similar concerns of fraud and market manipulation. At the time of publication, WisdomTree oversees approximately $83 billion in assets.

One of the key differences with BlackRock’s recent filing to the SEC is that it intends to enter into a “surveillance sharing agreement” with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) futures markets.

BlackRock’s proposal cites the SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin futures fund by investment advisory firm Teucrium. That ruling noted that the CME “comprehensively surveils futures market conditions and price movements on a real time and ongoing basis in order to detect and prevent price distortions, including price distortions caused by manipulative efforts.”

This has been echoed in WisdomTree’s filing as well, which states that it too is willing to enter into such a surveillance agreement with “an operator of a US-based spot trading platform for Bitcoin.”

Less than four hours after WisdomTree filed its application, global investment manager Invesco “reactivated” its application for a similar product.

And now Invesco has reactivated their 19b-4 for their spot ETF https://t.co/D2zTpqrqJH
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 20, 2023

According to the 19b-4 document — which informs the SEC of a proposed rule change — Invesco requested that the financial regulator allow its “Invesco Galaxy Bitcoin ETF” product to be listed on the Cboe BZX exchange.

The filing notes that a spot Bitcoin ETF which uses “professional custodians and other service providers,” removes the need for investors to rely on “loosely regulated offshore vehicles” in turn, allowing for investors to more readily “protect their principal investments in Bitcoin.”

While the SEC is yet to approve a single spot Bitcoin ETF product, Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said that “BlackRock breathed new life into the race” in response to his own tweet concerning the WisdomTree filing.

Fun fact: BlackRock's record of getting ETFs approved by the SEC is 575-1. That's another reason this is so big, they don't play around. https://t.co/f7YIhGRmLf
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 16, 2023

Additionally, Balchunas said that crypto investors may have good reason to be optimistic when it comes to BlackRock’s move, sharing that the investment firm has a “575-1” record of getting ETFs approved by the regulator.

In addition to the recent activity from WisdomTree and Invesco, rumors have begun circulating that the multi-trillion-dollar fund manager Fidelity Investments may also be looking to capitalize on the newfound frenzy for spot Bitcoin ETFs.

According to a June 19 tweet from Arch Public co-founder AP_Abacus, Fidelity Investments, which manages some $4.9 trillion in assets — may look to file for its own spot Bitcoin ETF. Alternatively, Abacus notes that the investment firm could make an offer on Grasyscale’s GBTC ETF product.

Cointelegraph reached out to Fidelity for confirmation but did not receive an immediate response.

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Failure to launch: Australia’s first 3 crypto ETFs all miss launch day

April 27, 2022 Coin Telegraph

21shares

Three cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) scheduled to launch on the Cboe Australia exchange today were delayed due to “checks” still being undertaken.

The launch of Australia’s first three Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF) scheduled for today, has been delayed as a result of further “checks” needing to be completed.

The exchange listing the Bitcoin Spot ETF from Cosmos Asset Management, Cboe Australia, released a statement late Tuesday stating that “standard checks prior to the commencement of trading are still being completed” and a “further update will be provided in the coming days.”

Cboe issued the same notice regarding two spot ETFs issued by 21Shares also scheduled for launch today, a Bitcoin ETF and an Ethereum ETF.

It’s unclear why the products are delayed with the Australian Financial Review reporting that a “service provider downstream” — an entity such as a prime broker or major institution with the power to delay listings until it's ready to support the trade of the products — could be to blame for the hold up.

The underlying asset for the Cosmos ETF is a direct investment into the Canadian Purpose Bitcoin ETF, North America’s first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. The funds issued by 21Shares are backed by Bitcoin and Ethereum reserves held in cold storage by Coinbase.

Toby Chapple, Head of Trading at Australian wealth management firm Zerocap, told Cointelegraph the delay was “not a big deal.” Referring to the Cosmos Bitcoin ETF he added:

“You would think an ETF which invests in another ETF would be easier to handle, but the broker will just be ensuring they have all their ducks lined up before they go live.”

Cici Lu, Managing Partner at crypto asset investment and wealth management firm Apollo Capital also said that it seemed like just a small bump in a long road for the funds:

“While this isn't an ideal start for the ETF's, it will be looked at as only a minor speed bump in an otherwise successful result for the crypto asset industry in Australia.”

He added: “The traditional finance sector is trying to get its head around how to adapt their businesses to a new asset class, it is a journey both crypto and TradFi are on together. ”

Cointelegraph contacted Cboe Australia, Cosmos and 21Shares for more information regarding the delays but did not immediately hear back.

Cosmos Asset Management’s “Cosmos Purpose Bitcoin Access ETF” received approval from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on April 19 to begin trading following a seven-day notice period and was expected to attract around $1 billion after its launch.

The two ETFs issued by 21Shares received approval around the same time, aligning all three funds with the same launch date.

21Shares isn’t a stranger to hold ups with its crypto ETF products Earlier in April the United Stated Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected its Bitcoin ETF which was to list on the US Cboe BZX Exchange saying the exchange didn’t meet requirements for listing a financial product.

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bitcoin spot etf

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