In the Spot Bitcoin ETF craze, companies have achieved a significant victory against the SEC. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval to 11 issuers, creating great enthusiasm for ETFs. While the decision on the approval of the applications was awaited, Grayscale Investments, one of the world’s leading asset management companies, became one of the highlights of the day. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and CLO Paul Grewal had drawn attention to Grayscale prior to the ETF victory.
Coinbase Praises Grayscale
Recently, a post was shared by Armstrong via X. In the shared post, he quoted Grewal’s post and added his own comment. In his comment, he made a supportive statement that Grayscale could indeed be credited with the Spot Bitcoin ETF approval.
The CEO emphasized the victory the firm had won against the SEC through the courts, overcoming many obstacles. His statement was as follows:
Grayscale deserves a lot of credit today, they are pushing it through the courts.
On the other hand, CLO Grewal also supported the firm. CLO praised Grayscale’s firm stance against the SEC’s arbitrary and capricious behavior.
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein later joined in these statements by the company’s CEO and CTO, expressing his satisfaction. The company’s CEO Armstrong and the entire Coinbase team were considered “great partners” for Grayscale, he added to his words.
Confessions from an SEC Commissioner
While there was much praise for Grayscale, there were also many criticisms of the SEC side. SEC Commissioner Hester M. Peirce pointed out that the agency made four critical mistakes regarding Bitcoin ETFs.
The commissioner’s past statements were confessional in nature. She admitted that opportunities the SEC had for a decade were squandered by the agency itself. The commissioner went further, stating that the SEC’s attitude and treatment towards Bitcoin ETFs and crypto damaged the agency’s reputation.
Peirce also commented that resources allocated for staff were misused, with “millions of dollars” wasted on rejecting Bitcoin ETFs.
In addition, the commissioner emphasized that the SEC overstepped its bounds, stating that higher authorities did not grant the agency the authority to pressure individual investors’ investment choices.
As the SEC’s fourth mistake, she pointed out the failure to apply standard procedures. According to her, the SEC created an “artificial frenzy” around Spot Bitcoin ETFs.
