The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has recently disclosed meetings with several asset managers regarding their proposed spot Bitcoin ETFs.
On Nov. 29, the SEC said that its Division of Trading and Markets members met with several Grayscale employees and the law firm Davis Polk on the same day. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein was among those in attendance.
The SEC held meetings with Grayscale on three other dates starting in 2022, the most recent of which occurred last month on November 20, 2023. Two additional sessions involved members of Grayscale’s custody partner, Coinbase.
Those meetings concerned a proposed rule change that would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares. Grayscale plans to convert GBTC to a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
SEC also met with BlackRock and others
The SEC held talks with other asset managers last month. Notably, it met with BlackRock regarding its proposed iShares spot Bitcoin ETF on Nov. 28 and Nov. 20. Attachments show that both BlackRock discussions concerned comparisons between in-kind and cash redemption models, which will determine whether some ETF participants transact with cryptocurrency or cash.
The securities regulator also said on Nov. 29 that it met with asset manager Hashdex days earlier to discuss the firm’s proposed spot Bitcoin ETF.
Other SEC disclosures indicate that the agency met with Bitwise, VanEck, Fidelity, and Invesco on their respective proposals in late November. The agency also met with 21Shares on behalf of Ark Invest’s spot Bitcoin ETF proposal around the end of the month. It does not appear that the SEC met with WisdomTree, Valkyrie, or GlobalX on their respective spot Bitcoin ETF applications.
The SEC has not publicly stated any plans to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF in spite of the fact that it has disclosed these numerous recent meetings.
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