On Wednesday, digital asset manager Grayscale submitted an updated prospectus to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for converting its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF). This follows a meeting between Grayscale and the SEC to discuss the proposed product.
The updated filing is an amended Form S-3 registration statement, used by companies that have already fulfilled SEC reporting obligations. According to ETF analyst James Seyffart at Bloomberg, the prospectus does not appear to include significant changes from the original filing.
Surprisingly (or not) little meat here. Maintaining principally in-kind creation/redemption with a limited cash process. Some new risk factors, including matching the Ark/21 RF expanded disclosure of fraud & manipulation risk. https://t.co/cSoZcEP0jB
— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) November 22, 2023
One important update is a suggested ticker symbol change to “BTC” instead of the current “GBTC.” Seyffart later clarified Grayscale has no plans to use BTC ticker in this case, as the company has a separate filing for Global Composite Bitcoin ETF registered with the BTC ticker.
Seyffart tweeted that the filing confirms Grayscale is continuing its talks with the SEC and is making updates based on feedback. Specific changes include shortening a line about cash creation orders and removing some risk disclosure pages.
A November 20 memo revealed members of the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets met with Grayscale executives and lawyers from Davis Polk to discuss the proposed listing on NYSE Arca. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein was also present.
Grayscale is seeking to convert an existing Bitcoin investment product into an ETF, unlike other spot Bitcoin ETF