Bitcoin Reaches $31,000 as Court Confirms Grayscale’s Victory Against the SEC

The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has officially upheld Grayscale Investments’ legal victory against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), shifting the responsibility back to the regulator.

In August, a panel of three judges ruled unanimously that the SEC’s decision to reject Grayscale’s proposal to transform its Bitcoin trust (GBTC) into an ETF, while allowing the launch of Bitcoin futures funds, was deemed “arbitrary and capricious.”

At that time, the court announced that the SEC’s order denying the GBTC conversion would be “vacated.” The final ruling affirming this decision, filed on Monday, arrived 10 days after the SEC’s 45-day window to appeal the court’s verdict against Grayscale had expired.

A spokesperson for Grayscale informed Blockworks on Monday “the Grayscale team looks forward to continuing to work constructively with the SEC to convert GBTC to an ETF… GBTC is operationally ready, and we intend to move as expeditiously as possible on behalf of our investors.”

As anticipated, the ruling did not provide clear guidance on the next steps in the process.

Told y'all, this was going to be a nothing to see here drop. Although even I didn't think the nothingness would be this intense. There's almost literally nothing written on the mandate. https://t.co/z7CdL4P1vK

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 23, 2023

Now, it’s up to the SEC to make its move, with the agency having the option to either grant approval for Grayscale’s application or potentially reject it based on different reasons. The SEC is concurrently evaluating several other applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs, including those from major asset management players like BlackRock, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton.