SEC Requests Comments on Concerns About Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Proposal

SEC Requests Comments on Concerns About Grayscale’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Proposal

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has expressed concerns about how Grayscale will head off share manipulation, fraud and other possible issues in its proposal to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to a notice Friday.

The regulator also flagged its concerns about the liquidity and transparency of bitcoin markets, as well as the “suitability” of bitcoin as the underlying asset for the fund. Grayscale is a unit of Digital Currency Group, which is also the parent of CoinDesk.

The SEC has asked the public to comment on these issues, and given them 21 days to do so, with an additional 14 days for responses to those comments.