SkyBridge Capital Founder Says U.S. SEC ‘Now Stands for Stop Economic Creativity’
On Thursday (June 30), former White House Director of Communications Anthony Scaramucci shared his thoughts on the disapproval by the U.S. SEC of Grayscale Investments’ proposal for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to be converted into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
As CoinDesk reported earlier today, yesterday (June 29) the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected Grayscale Investments’ spot Bitcoin ETF proposal, a decision that did not surprise Grayscale Investments (a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group), which immediately filed a petition for review of this decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
When CNBC anchor Melissa Lee asked Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein if there is “a precedence for this sort of action to sue the SEC for a rejection”, he replied:
“Well, Melissa, it’s been a busy 12 hours for the Grayscale team. Of course, last night getting the SEC’s decision, we were, of course, very disappointed. But as an organisation, we were ready, Regulators do get sued, and it does happen frequently.
“Last night, after receiving the SEC decision, our attorneys almost immediately filed a petition for review with the appellate court in DC. And that starts the litigation process, contesting the SEC’s decision, which we, of course, vehemently disagree with.“
He later added:
“We laid out these arguments throughout the last couple of months leading up to this decision, really looking at the fact that the SEC is acting arbitrary and capricious by continuing to approve Bitcoin futures base ETFs, while continuing to deny spot Bitcoin ETFs.
“And when you look at the administrative procedure act, which is really what governs the way that regulators have to govern, they have to be treating like issues alike, and in this case, they’re not. They’re actually discriminating against issuers like Grayscale, who are trying to bring a product further into the US regulatory perimeter here.“
Earlier today, Scaramucci, who is the founder and managing partner of global alternative investment firm SkyBridge Capital, was invited to an interview on CNBC’s “Squawk Box”, where he had this to say to co-anchor Andrew Ross Sorkin about the SEC’s continual refusal to approve any spot Bitcoin ETF proposals:
“It’s a missed opportunity for the country. We’ve had the mantle of financial services leadership for a hundred plus years. And the fact that the SEC is moving in this direction, where the Europeans are allowing for a cash ETF, the Canadians are allowing for a cash ETF, just a huge missed opportunity. You know, the SEC now stands for ‘Stop Economic Creativity’, and I think that is a terrible thing for the country.
“Moreover, they won’t even give me the regulations, Andrew. You know, they’ve hired more people in the enforcement division, and so the venture capital community, the crypto community are like ‘okay, so we’ll find out what to do if you’re investigating us’…
“Why don’t you put down in writing what the regulations are and the rules. We’re all lawing citizens, and we’ll happily abide by the rules. And so, this vagueness and this uncertainty, I think, is hurting the United States and it’ll hurt our intellectual capital and our capital formation going forward. So, I hope they stop it.“
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