ETF Approvals: Two Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Grayscale's attempt to force the SEC, via the courts, to approve the conversion of GBTC into a normal ETF was argued this week. Coverage of the hearings ranged from relatively muted in the traditional financial press (WSJ, Reuters) to a bit livelier in the crypto space with phrases like "Judges Scrutinize SEC" and "Grayscale Appears To Win" appearing in headlines.

Surely the situation is odd. As it stands Grayscale offers over a dozen products to US retail which contain digital currencies. Nobody argues these are not properly registered or that the reporting is somehow defective. Simultaneously both the CME and ICE list futures on several crypto assets. Those are gigantic highly-regulated exchange groups and among the worlds most systemically important financial institutions. None of this is happening in secret. On some level trading in Bitcoin–including leveraged speculation on the price– is officially sanctioned.