U.S. Court of Appeals to Hear Oral Arguments in Grayscale Investments’ Lawsuit Against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Over its Decision to Reject a Bitcoin (BTC) Spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) am.
According to the court motion filed Jan. 23, the two sides plan to file their claims in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals on March 7 at 9:30 a.m. local time.
Oral argument is an oral presentation by an attorney summarizing why the client must win the case. Each party to the case takes turns speaking directly, answering questions from the judge, and is given equal time to do so.
Mark your calendar.Oral arguments in our case challenge the SEC’s decision to deny $GBTC Convert to spot #bitcoin The ETF was just scheduled
*Tuesday, March 7, 2023 @ 930 AM EST*. pic.twitter.com/PMQVUsebMO— Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) January 24, 2023
In a tweet on Jan. 24, Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm said the newly filed motion was “welcome news.”
According to the motion, the composition of the hearing panel in the Grayscale case will be made public on Feb. 6, 30 days before the date of oral argument, with the hearing times set in a different order.
Grayscale filed a lawsuit against the SEC in June after regulators denied its application to convert the $12 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot-based ETF.
Earlier this month, Grayscale filed a response to the DC Court of Appeals when the SEC acted arbitrarily by treating spot-traded ETFs differently than futures-traded commodities and rejected Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF application. , the SEC claimed it had exceeded its authority.
Related: SEC’s ‘One-Dimensional’ Approach Is Slowing Bitcoin Progress: Grayscale CEO
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein echoed a similar point in an interview on CNBC’s Squawk Box on Jan. 24, stating:
“When it comes to investors, it’s important to remember the role that regulators like the SEC play. They’re not here to tell investors what to invest in and what not to invest in. They are here to ensure all proper disclosures are made […] so [investors] I am aware of all associated risks. ”
“Cryptocurrency is here to stay. Regulators are not here to tell investors what to invest in and what not to invest in. They want all proper disclosures done. We are here to ensure that we are able to…so our investors understand all the risks involved.” @grayscale @sonnenshein“That’s exactly what the SEC does.” pic.twitter.com/k30y6DewBe
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 24, 2023
Sonnenshein said it “certainly expects” a court decision on the company’s lawsuit against the SEC “in the second or third quarter of this year.”
“What is frustrating for investors, and certainly for the team at Grayscale, is that we are actually a US-born business, taking advantage of the existing US regulatory framework to make crypto a safe and compliant way. That’s what we offer to investors.”
“Meetings with both families yesterday and today, what we really hear […] The SEC had already approved this Spot Bitcoin ETF. […] A lot of the investor losses we’ve seen recently in crypto could have been prevented,” he added.
