Grayscale, the sponsor of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the largest Bitcoin fund, said Monday that it is 100% committed to converting GBTC to an ETFs," but the "timing will be driven by the regulatory environment."
To date, the SEC has not approved any Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency ETF, though several applications are pending before the agency, and three Bitcoin ETFs are trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada and available only in Canada.
A sponsor of one of those ETFs, CI Global Asset Management, has just launched a Bitcoin mutual fund in Canada, also available only in Canada. The fund, called the CI Galaxy Bitcoin Fund, will invest "all or substantially all of its assets in the CI Galaxy Bitcoin ETF," with which it intends to merge later this year. The subadvisor for the ETF and the fund is Galaxy Digital Fund Management.
Grayscale's Plan
Grayscale first filed an application with the SEC for a Bitcoin ETF in 2016 but ultimately withdrew its application following discussions with the SEC that lasted "the better part of 2017," according to Grayscale's announcement.
Firms typically withdraw applications that are facing rejection at the SEC, which is what several firms have done, though at least one of those firms, Van Eck, followed up with a new Bitcoin ETF application.
