SEC approves Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust for Trading on NYSE Arca

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved Grayscale’s newest spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) — Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) — for listing on the New York Stock Exchange’s (NYSE) Arca electronic trading platform, according to a July 26 filing. 

The approval is an important milestone for Grayscale, which announced plans on July 19 to spin off a portion of its flagship Bitcoin fund, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), into the new Mini Trust.

“Grayscale is excited to share that the [SEC] has approved NYES Arca's Form 19b-4 application to list and trade shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (proposed ticker: BTC),” a spokesperson told Cointelegraph in an email.

“Grayscale awaits the effectiveness of BTC's registration statement. The approval and effectiveness of the registration statement will allow BTC to operate as US spot Bitcoin ETP alongside GBTC and others.”

At 0.15%, management fees for the Mini Trust are some 10x less than those of Grayscale’s older GBTC fund, which charges an annual fee equal to 1.5% of assets under management (AUM).

On July 31, Grayscale will contribute 10% of the spot Bitcoin held by GTBC to the Mini Trust. Current GBTC shareholders will receive shares in the Mini Trust in direct proportion to the shares they hold in GBTC. As a result of the spinoff, GBTC holders will hold the same amount of spot BTC as before, but across two different funds.

On July 8, Grayscale announced a similar move with its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) ETF, with existing ETHE shareholders receiving proportional distributions of shares in its new Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust (ETH).

Grayscale’s GBTC and ETHE funds are among the longest-running spot BTC and Ethereum funds in the United States, originally launching in 2013 and 2017, respectively. The GBTC fund holds upward of $17 billion in assets.

A person familiar with the matter said the distribution would offer existing shareholders a tax-advantaged way of swapping out of the legacy fund and into the new ETF.