Partner Teresa Goody Guillén is quoted in an Aug. 30 Financial Times article about the implications of a recent ruling in favor of crypto firm Grayscale. A federal appeals court ruled that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) was wrong to reject the company’s application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to the article (“Crypto vs SEC: What Grayscale’s court victory means for bitcoin ETFs”), the SEC had argued that spot funds are “prone to manipulation, since crypto tokens trade on largely unregulated markets.”
This ruling deals a “hefty blow” to the agency, Goody Guillén told FT, as it “confirms that the SEC’s approach to crypto has opened it up to legal challenges, whether as arbitrary and capricious, outside its statutory authority” or rooted in improper rulemaking. “It certainly confirms the courts are holding the SEC accountable to its legal obligations,” she added.
The SEC has the option to appeal.
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