By Hannah Lang

(Reuters) – Crypto asset supervisor Grayscale Investments is gearing up for a protracted authorized struggle with the U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee to create a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the corporate’s chief government officer mentioned.

As the corporate awaits a court docket ruling on a June lawsuit in opposition to the SEC, CEO Michael Sonnenshein mentioned he was ready to enchantment if the court docket backed the SEC’s choice to reject the bitcoin ETF proposal.

“The one choice the SEC left us with was to show round and say, you understand what, this simply is not proper,” Sonnenshein mentioned. Suing the regulator was one of the vital selections he had made as CEO, and was “one which I didn’t, and we as a staff, didn’t take evenly,” he mentioned.

The SEC rejected Grayscale’s software to covert its flagship Grayscale Belief (GBTC) into an ETF in June, arguing that the proposal didn’t meet requirements designed to stop fraudulent practices and shield traders.

Grayscale sued the SEC virtually instantly after its proposal was denied, claiming that the regulator was appearing arbitrarily in rejecting functions for spot bitcoin ETFs when it had beforehand accredited bitcoin futures ETFs.

The case is being heard in entrance of the District of Columbia Courtroom of Appeals. If both social gathering have been to enchantment the ruling, the case would both go to the U.S. Supreme Courtroom or an en banc panel evaluate. Oral arguments within the case are scheduled to happen March 7 and Grayscale expects a remaining ruling on the case within the fall, mentioned Sonnenshein.

The SEC didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Grayscale Bitcoin Belief has $14.5 billion property beneath administration, based on Grayscale’s web site. The GBTC low cost to bitcoin is hovering round 41%, coming beneath stress after crypto alternate FTX collapsed and crypto lender Genesis suspended withdrawals.

There are additional issues about contagion. Genesis and Grayscale are each owned by enterprise capital Digital Foreign money Group (DCG), and questions as as to if DCG must promote its GBTC holdings have additionally weighed on the low cost.

Genesis’ crypto lending unit filed for chapter on Jan. 19.

Grayscale had no operational reliance on DCG or Genesis, and was unaffected by the chapter, Sonnenshein mentioned. Nonetheless, Genesis owned about 5% of complete GBTC shares excellent, based on an individual conversant in the matter. Genesis didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

“Grayscale is a standalone entity with its personal management, governance, budgets, insurance policies and procedures, and the property underpinning the Grayscale household of merchandise belong to its respective shareholders,” Sonnenshein mentioned.

If its authorized problem to the SEC was unsuccessful, Grayscale would discover choices to return a portion of GBTC’s capital to shareholders, Sonnenshein advised traders in a letter in December.