Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Hearing: Judges Express Skepticism of SEC Arguments

• U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress on Tuesday, warning banks should be „quite cautious“ about getting involved in digital assets.
• A panel of judges appeared skeptical of the SEC’s arguments during Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF hearing.
• Grayscale went to court Tuesday to argue the SEC’s denial of its ETF application was „arbitrary,“ telling the panel of judges that Grayscale is „asking to be regulated“ by the SEC through its conversion of GBTC to an ETF

Federal Reserve Chair Warns Banks About Digital Assets

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testified before Congress on Tuesday, warning banks should be „quite cautious“ about getting involved in digital assets.

Judges Express Skepticism During Grayscale Bitcoin ETF Hearing

A panel of appeals court judges questioned the SEC’s logic in drawing a distinction between bitcoin spot market prices and futures market prices during Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF hearing. Grayscale is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, CoinDesk’s parent company.

Grayscale Argues for Regulation Through Conversion Of GBTC To ETF

In response to the SEC’s denial, Grayscale went to court Tuesday to argue that it is “asking to be regulated” by converting its GBTC trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

SEC Denial Is Arbitrary, Says Grayscale

Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan and Judges Neomi Rao and Harriet Duan all expressed skepticism towards the SEC’s arguments during the hearing on Tuesday, with Duan asking “what would you need from us?” as she pushed back against some of their objections. Meanwhile, Grayscale argued that their bid for an ETF approval was being unfairly denied due to what they called an “arbitrary line” drawn by regulators between spot markets and futures markets when it comes to pricing bitcoin investments differently between them.

Conclusion

The outcome of this case will have far reaching implications for cryptocurrency markets as well as how investors view digital assets going forward, so a decision from this appeals court could come sooner rather than later in order