Bitcoin ETF Approval Day Approaches What Does Grayscale’s Submitted Form Mean?

Source: Bitcoinist Compiled by: Blockchain Knight

Grayscale has filed a Form 8-A with the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), indicating they have made substantial progress in their quest to launch a spot BTC ETF.

The move on January 4 follows similar actions by Fidelity and Bitwise, highlighting financial institutions aiming to offer spot ETFs. A growing trend for companies.

Filing a Form 8-A is a key regulatory requirement for companies looking to list on an exchange. In the case of ETFs, this signals that the company is ready to trade on an exchange before the product is approved.

This move is a key part of the BTC ETF approval process, as evidenced by Valkyrie’s submission of the BTC Strategy ETF (BITO) in October 2021.

Grayscale’s decision is particularly noteworthy because it comes just one day after Fidelity filed its 8-A filing and came before the SEC Made before an important deadline.

SEC will approve or reject 11 spot BTC ETF applications by January 10th, Ark Invest will face a final decision deadline, here There can be no further delay after that.

Grayscale’s strategy includes converting its flagship product GBTC Fund Convert to spot BTC ETF.

A court ruling in August found that the SEC’s initial rejection of Grayscale’s spot BTC ETF application was “arbitrary and capricious.” The ruling requires the SEC to re-examine Grayscale’s application, a stark contrast to the agency’s previous approval of a futures BTC ETF.

Grayscale's chief legal officer Craig Salm hinted at this in a cryptic tweet minutes before the Form 8-A was released. Progress, he said: "It's just filling out some forms." His post quickly attracted a lot of attention from the Crypto asset community.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart is cautiously optimistic,noting that the filings indicate the possibility of approval of the first U.S. spot ETFs. However, he also clarified that these 8-A applications, while necessary, do not guarantee approval.

Seyffart also added regarding Fidelity's Form 8-A yesterday: "These need to be completed before launch, but that does not mean they have been approved or Anything else, my understanding is that this is just a securities registration."

"In order to be listed, ETFs still need 19b-4 approval, and they need a valid , approve the completed S-1 document. There is no 19b-4 document yet, the S-1 is just a preliminary document, and I am still paying attention to the situation next week."

Walter Bloomberg agreed,and highlighted that the Form 8-A applications submitted by Fidelity and Grayscale marked progress toward possible approval of spot ETFs.

"Fidelity and Grayscale submitted Form 8-A shows the progress of the spot BTC ETF application. Submission of Form 8-A by the issuer means that the issuer is allowed to register for trading on the exchange, marking the progress of the possible approval of the spot BTC ETF."

< p style="text-align: left;">Fidelity's recent 8-A registration, as well as Grayscale's, come as issuers are well prepared to launch these potential spot BTC ETFs. These preparations include discussing creation, redemption models, and naming authorized participants.

Grayscale is reportedly in talks with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs over its role in a proposed spot BTC ETF.

These discussions disclosed by Bloomberg follow Grayscale's recent revised S-3 filing with the SEC, which did not list authorizations participants.

As the deadline for the SEC to make a decision on these ETFs approaches, Bloomberg ETF analysts Seyffart and Eric Balchunas still believe that obtaining a decision before January 10 The probability of approval is 90%.

According to sources, the approval decision could be announced as early as tomorrow and the ETFs could begin rolling out next week, as NewsBTC reported today.