US court issues mandate for Grayscale ruling, paving way for SEC to review spot Bitcoin ETF

The United States Court of Appeals has issued a mandate following a decision requiring Grayscale Investments’ application for a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund to be reviewed by the Securities and Exchange Commission. 

In an Oct. 23 filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the “formal mandate” of the court took effect, paving the way for the SEC to review its decision on Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund, or ETF. The mandate followed the court’s initial ruling on Aug. 29 and the SEC’s failure to present an appeal by Oct. 13.

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The Oct. 23 mandate reaffirmed the court’s Aug. 29 ruling, giving Grayscale a second chance at converting its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a listed BTC ETF. To date, the SEC has yet to approve a single spot crypto ETF for listing on U.S. exchanges but has given the green light to investment vehicles linked to Bitcoin and Ether (ETH) futures.

On Oct. 19, Grayscale submitted a registration statement to the SEC to list shares of its Bitcoin trust on the New York Stock Exchange Arca under the ticker symbol GBTC. The investment firm and other major companies — including BlackRock, ARK Investment, and Valkyrie — have spot crypto ETF applications pending with the SEC.

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