Seemingly Imminent Resolution of Grayscale Investment's Lawsuit against SEC Over Bitcoin ETF

Breaking News: Grayscale’s Long-Awaited Lawsuit Verdict Expected Soon

A verdict could be rendered soon in the lawsuit brought against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by Grayscale Investments. The investment firm, which had been striving to morph its Bitcoin (BTC) trust into a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), is awaiting a decision in its legal action against the federal securities regulator.

Expecting an August Decision

Scott Johnsson, a partner at Van Buren Capital, claimed via a tweet on August 11, that U.S. District Courts usually complete their case backlog in August as this is typically when law clerks move on, preceding the arrival of newcomer clerks. Johnsson based his observation on the facts that court proceedings for 30 out of 32 cases in both 2021 and 2022 were administered by U.S. District Courts within 160 days of oral testimony, hence leading to August judgments.

Details of the Grayscale-SEC Lawsuit

Adding more weight to his argument, Johnsson noted it’s been exactly 160 days since Grayscale presented its oral arguments in the case against the SEC on March 7. As things stand today, only a handful of cases argued in March are still unresolved, including Grayscale's case, as Johnsson further elaborated.

Analyst Predicts Early Decision

Bloomberg analyst, James Seyffart, has proposed that the decision might be released earlier than expected, possibly by August 15. Seyffart’s personal belief has been alluding to this date as the "probable date for the Grayscale lawsuit verdict" for a while. Johnsson also commended Seyffart’s predictive analysis as "quite plausible."

The Case Background

In the summer of 2022, the SEC denied Grayscale's request to transform its GBTC into a spot Bitcoin ETF. Grayscale countered by suing the securities regulator, alleging miscellany in the treatment of similar investment proposals. A host of industry pundits, such as Cathie Wood from ARK Invest and ETF expert Nate Geraci, have been in favor of Grayscale winning the lawsuit.

Grayscale's Call for Fair Treatment

Recently, Grayscale urged the SEC to grant approval to all Bitcoin spot ETF applications concurrently to rule out any potential advantage for certain entities.