Bringing Bitcoin investment opportunities to professional traders has hit yet another roadblock. Grayscale Investments LLC’s backer withdrew a request sent to the SEC to list their investment trust. This means GBTC will not be coming to Intercontinental Exchange INC anytime soon. It is a very tough blow for the Bitcoin market, although it should have no lasting consequences. There is no reason for the SEC to approve the request, thus withdrawing it makes sense.
Grayscale Investments, LLC was quite pleased with the initial filing by Intercontinental Exchange Inc. Having the GBTC ticker on more platforms is never a bad thing. However, the Bitcoin Investment Trust cannot be listed without SEC approval. We will never know whether or not said approval would have been received. The exchange withdrew the request earlier this week. It is a bit of a setback, but anyone who is not a professional trader will not suffer any consequences.
No New Exchange Listing for Grayscale Products
As of right now, the Bitcoin Investment Trust is traded in OTC markets. Less formal exchanges provide some trading volume, but not the big numbers the parent company is hoping for. Despite these odds, GBTC is valued a lot higher compared to the actual Bitcoin price itself. In fact, the Trust’s shares are valued over twice the Bitcoin value right now. This shows there is a growing demand for such investment vehicles. Unfortunately, the plan to take things to the next level has been cancelled prematurely.
The official statement reads as follows:
“Although digital currency market regulation continues to rapidly evolve, at this time Grayscale does not believe there have been enough regulatory developments to prompt the SEC to approve the application. We will continue their dialogue with regulators, but cannot make an accurate prediction as to when we may get approved.”
If the SEC is to approve such a request, things will get very interesting. It will open the proverbial floodgates for institutional investors looking to access Bitcoin. Unfortunately, the SEC has no plans to be lenient in this regard. The institution has no love lost for cryptocurrencies in general, let alone a company issuing shares linked to the Bitcoin value. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for Grayscale, that much is certain.
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