Grayscale, the investment manager, has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to register a new “mini” version of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) under the ticker symbol “BTC.” The S-1 form was submitted on March 11, and if approved, the new Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange as an independent entity separate from Grayscale’s main GBTC fund.
As per the filing, the shares of the new Bitcoin trust will be distributed to existing GBTC shareholders, with GBTC also contributing an undisclosed amount of Bitcoin to the new trust. The objective of the new trust is to provide GBTC investors with tax-free exposure to Bitcoin, as highlighted by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart on March 12.
It is worth noting that the filing coincided with Bitcoin reaching a new all-time high of $71,415 on March 11, just three days after Ether surpassed the $4,000 mark for the first time since December 2021.
Following this milestone, asset manager VanEck announced its decision to waive all sponsor fees for the first $1.5 billion of funds in its Bitcoin Trust ETF until March 31, 2025.
Meanwhile, the US spot Bitcoin ETFs set a new record on March 5, with a daily trading volume of $10 billion, surpassing the previous week’s record of $7.7 billion.
On the other hand, the SEC’s lack of response regarding Ether-based ETFs is viewed as a negative signal for potential approval by May. Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas expressed his downgraded expectations, giving the chances of an Ether ETF approval only a 35% probability.