According to Cointelegraph: Grayscale, a leading crypto asset manager, recently held a meeting with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deliberate over the conversion of their flagship Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). The meeting, held on November 20, was attended by Grayscale's CEO Michael Sonnenshein, legal chief Craig Salm, ETF head Dave LaValle and other executives, along with representatives from Davis Polk law firm.
According to an SEC memo, the dialogue centered around a proposed rule change to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust under "NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E." As part of this process, Grayscale disclosed a Transfer Agency and Service Agreement with BNY Mellon. The bank will serve as an agent for GBTC, overseeing the issuance and redemption of shares along with managing shareholder accounts.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart shared the filing and noted that approval or denial of the form 19b-4, which notifies the SEC of the proposed rule change, lies in the hands of the trading and markets division.
The meeting was deemed significant by ETF Store President Nate Geraci, who highlighted in a November 22 post that the discussion of GBTC's conversion being referred to as an 'uplisting' was the most notable aspect of the meeting. Geraci also postulated that if Grayscale can successfully "uplist GBTC to NYSE Arca on the same day other issuers launch spot BTC ETFs" and simultaneously compete on fees, it has a strong potential to dominate the ETF category.
Grayscale submitted a registration statement signaling its intention to list GBTC shares on the NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol GBTC with the SEC on October 19. A subsequent court order in the same month mandated the SEC to review its decision to deny Grayscale's proposal to convert GBTC into a spot ETF. Other asset managers, including BlackRock and Fidelity, are also seeking SEC's nod for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
