SEC reportedly won’t appeal court decision on Grayscale Bitcoin ETF

If true, the SEC will need to review and decide on Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF application. If denied, Grayscale could appeal the decision.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly has no plans to appeal the recent court decision that favored Grayscale Investments. The ruling requires the SEC to review the firm’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application.

Benzinga (and others) reporting that Reuters is reporting that the SEC will NOT be appealing Grayscale case. pic.twitter.com/yd9BBtRwv5

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 13, 2023

The SEC’s supposed decision not to appeal the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruling was highlighted in an Oct. 13 report from Reuters, which cited “a source familiar with the matter.”

Bloomberg analysts also expect the SEC not to appeal to the Supreme Court but emphasized that this doesn’t necessarily mean Grayscale’s application is set to be approved.

If the reports are true, the SEC will need to follow the court’s August order and review Grayscale’s application to change its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

According to Reuters, the appeals court is expected to issue a mandate specifically outlining how its ruling should be “executed” by the SEC.

Commenting on the developments, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated via X (formerly Twitter) that:

“I do not think they will appeal to the Supreme Court either. Dialogue between Grayscale and SEC should begin next week. Hoping for more info on next steps sometime next week or week after?”

1. Done deal I guess if this is accurate. No en banc application

2. No. I do not think they will appeal to the Supreme Court either.

3. Dialogue between Grayscale and SEC should begin next week. Hoping for more info on next steps sometime next week or week after? https://t.co/2EayzqeKGq

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) October 13, 2023

Moving forward, Seyffart suggested that it is likely that “we will find out in the next week (or two)” what the deadline is for the SEC to approve or deny Grayscale’s spot Bitcoin ETF application.

If the SEC were to deny the application, Grayscale could then appeal that decision, dragging the process out even longer.

Related: Bitcoin price gets new $25K target as SEC decision day boosts GBTC

Around seven spot Bitcoin ETF applications have been put before the SEC and are awaiting a decision from the regulator.

In a separate preceding X post on Oct. 13, Seyffart reiterated his view that there is a 90% chance that a spot Bitcoin ETF application will get approved in January 2024, specifically the application from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.

I've gotten a lot of questions regarding my current view on Spot #Bitcoin ETFs over the last couple weeks. This is the first section of the note I put out yesterday with @EricBalchunas.

TLDR: Our view hasn't changed much https://t.co/dRAm5IsdQf pic.twitter.com/Htsi3n2XxV

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) October 13, 2023

Seyffart and Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, also previously suggested a 75% chance that an application will get approved in 2023.

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