Grayscale has filled form 19b-4, which has been noticed by the SEC. This means that the countdown for the future hearing has begun, according to ETF Hearsay.
According to the Notice of Filing, within 45 days of the date of publication of the notice filed by Grayscale in the Federal Register, the commission will approve or disapprove the rule change or proceed to determine if the rule should be disapproved.
The conversion of the GBTC fund was announced shortly after the approval of the first U.S. futures-backed Bitcoin ETF by ProShares, which brought more than $1 billion to the cryptocurrency market.
The news about the potential conversion of Grayscale's Bitcoin fund was not welcomed as pleasantly as the company expected. According to commentary on social networks, users and previous Grayscale customers are not happy with the negative premium that the fund is trading at.
Since direct Bitcoin exposure is a more convenient solution for retail traders, Grayscale's fund, with an average 20% premium, is losing its reason for existence since institutional investors are able to use ProShares products to receive the same exposure with lower premiums and rollout costs.
With conversion to ETF, Grayscale's product might receive more interest from investors, which will also bring additional funds to the market. The date of the hearing is still not confirmed by either side and can still be postponed, delayed or moved to another date for any reason.
Alex Dovbnya
Denys Serhiichuk