The battle between Grayscale and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) might last from twelve months to two years.
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In a recent blog post, Grayscale CFO, Craig Salm, said that in the coming weeks and months, the firm with its legal counsel will engage with the court to set up briefing schedules. He said:
"We will file written briefs that lay out the substance of our arguments, and reinforce why we think the court should overturn the SEC’s decision. The SEC will also have an opportunity to provide counterarguments, and then Grayscale is afforded one final opportunity to counter the SEC’s responses."
Salm notes that the final decision on who wins in this battle will be up to a panel of three judges. If Grayscale loses, the firm can still try to seek an "en banc" hearing (when the entire group of judges in the DC Circuit will weigh-in to make a final decision, not the group of three), or appeal to the US Supreme Court.
Earlier, the SEC rejected Grayscale's application to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot bitcoin-ETF, citing fraud and manipulation concerns. Grayscale says there might be "unfair discrimination" as the watchdog previously gave green light to bitcoin-ETF based on futures, and, therefore, should allow spot bitcoin-ETF as well as bitcoin futures and spot bitcoin ETFs derive their pricing from the same underlying spot bitcoin markets.
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