Grayscale Files for Mini Spot Bitcoin ETF
13 Mar, 2024 ● Crypto News
Grayscale has filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce a new "mini" version of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) under the ticker symbol "BTC."
The investment manager submitted an S-1 form on March 11, aiming to establish the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust, which, if approved, will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
This new trust would operate independently of Grayscale's primary GBTC fund.
According to the filing, shares of the new Bitcoin trust are planned to be distributed to existing GBTC shareholders.
Additionally, an unspecified amount of Bitcoin from GBTC will be contributed to the new trust.
The objective of the new trust is to provide GBTC investors with tax-free exposure to Bitcoin.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart commented on March 12, stating, "There is no fee disclosed yet or what % of $GBTC will spin off but pretty sure this will be a non-taxable event for a chunk of those shares to get into a cheaper and cost-competitive product."
The filing coincided with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of $71,415 on March 11, following Ether's breach of the $4,000 mark three days earlier.
Subsequent to the all-time high, asset manager VanEck announced that it would waive all sponsor fees for the first $1.5 billion of funds in its Bitcoin Trust ETF until March 31, 2025.
These developments occurred in the wake of U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs setting a new record of $10 billion in daily trading volume on March 5, surpassing the previous week's record of $7.7 billion.
Concerning Ether-based ETFs, the SEC's continued silence casts doubt on potential approval by May.
Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expressed skepticism, stating, "The main thing is the fact that we’re 73 days from the final deadline, and there’s been no contact or comments from the SEC to the issuers. That’s not a good sign."
Sources:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/grayscale-files-mini-spot-bitcoin-etf
