Grayscale CEO, Michael Sonnenshein, recently spoke on a podcast
interview, expressing his confusion as to why the SEC wouldn't want to
protect Grayscale investors and return the true asset value to them.
He
argued that the SEC violated the administrative procedures act by
denying Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) as an approved spot Bitcoin
exchange-traded fund (ETF) in June 2022.
According to Sonnenshein, this
act ensures that the regulator doesn't show favoritism or act
arbitrarily.
He stated that the SEC's approval of Bitcoin Futures ETF
and not approving GBTC's conversion is arbitrary.
He claimed that there
is a couple of billion dollars of capital that would immediately return
to investors' pockets overnight if GBTC were approved, as the fund would
bleed back up to its net asset value.
Sonnenshein noted that Grayscale
is currently suing the SEC and could have a decision challenging the SEC
denial as late as fall 2023.
He also highlighted that Grayscale has
over a million investor accounts worldwide counting on the firm to do
the right thing for them.
If the SEC denies the application to challenge
the decision, Grayscale may appeal the case to the US Supreme Court.
The SEC denied Grayscale's application to convert its $12-billion
Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based Bitcoin ETF in Dec.
2022, stating that the proposal did not sufficiently protect against
fraud and manipulation, similar to their findings in previous
applications to create spot-based BTC ETFs.