The Grayscale Investments Bitcoin Trust has seen its shares jump heavily in price over the last few weeks as its court case against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) appears to move more heavily in its favor.
Grayscale Heats Up Its Fight Against the SEC
Grayscale is currently at war with the SEC. The latter agency has done all it can over the last six years to penalize crypto companies that don’t move in tandem with its narrative. The goal was initially to regulate and monitor the space for illicit activity, though the SEC appears to have taken on more of a gestapo form in that it’s just prosecuting and penalizing digital currency companies and forcing them to part with tons of money.
One of the most recent SEC/crypto cases involved digital currency trading platform Kraken. In a settlement, the company was forced to part with a $30 million fee and rescind all its staking activities and services.
In addition, the SEC has been very much against the introduction of a BTC-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) centered around spot trading, which is at the center of the Grayscale lawsuit. Not long ago, Grayscale sent an application to the SEC for getting such a product started. Naturally, like it’s done with so many other companies, the SEC said “no” in a loud, resounding voice, and things ultimately should have stopped there.
But Grayscale decided to fight back. The company said the SEC had no legitimate reason to turn its application down, and it’s now suing the federal organization in court. At first, the signs of hope appeared faint and distant. No one has ever taken on the SEC without incurring heavy wounds, so many analysts claimed, but things have apparently shifted in Grayscale’s favor, and now it looks like the firm may have a chance of winning its case.
In a recent interview, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein commented:
Walking out of the courtroom, we were really encouraged.
This Should Give Other Companies Confidence
The news is filling Grayscale’s halls and operations with positivity. Its bitcoin trust has jumped by more than 20 percent, but aside from that, it’s also giving digital currency companies confidence that they can perhaps take on the SEC and provide traders access with the products they’re aiming to produce.
So many enterprises – such as Van Eck – have struggled to get their fair shake from the SEC when they submit BTC-based ETF applications, which have been flooding the SEC’s offices since 2017 give or take. Each time, the agency has given these companies the cold shoulder and dismissed them, but now with Grayscale playing the largest and most powerful hand yet, it looks like things may turn around not just for its executives, but for all those looking to develop their own crypto ETF products.
