Grayscale was unreasonably denied its Bitcoin ETF, court rules
The United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in favor of Grayscale in its lawsuit challenging the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC’s) decision to deny the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) to an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The SEC has previously approved ETFs that track Bitcoin futures, but not spot ETFs, which directly track Bitcoin price. If GBTC is converted to an ETF investors would be able to trade shares more freely than the closed-end trust currently allows, and it would be easier to create and destroy shares, so the discount between Bitcoin prices and GBTC market values would vanish (see graphic below). [Read more at the Verge]
Brazil’s CBDC falls behind schedule as central bank suspends innovation lab
Banco Central do Brasil (BCB) is rumored to be delaying its digital real DREX central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot by three months, and suspended its LIFT Lab innovation project indefinitely. The delay is being attributed to a slow start in onboarding pilot participants and because the BCB isn’t yet satisfied with the privacy preserving technology it plans to use. [Read more at Ledger Insights]
*For those interested in intra-day updates, check out my searchable Diigo Fintech developments database, which is also a good place to go to query for past developments: https://www.diigo.com/user/kiffmeister/ART.
Kiffmeister’s central bank digital currency monthly monitor
Just a reminder that I produce a monthly digest of central bank digital currency (CBDC) developments exclusively for the official sector. So (only) if you work at a central bank, ministry of finance or international financial institution (e.g., the BIS, IMF, OECD, World Bank) and who would like to receive it by email on the first business day of every month, please DM me on LinkedIn or email me at chronicles@kiffmeister.com.
The Sovereign Official Digital Association (SODA) is a technology-agnostic firm offering advisory services at the intersection of central banking, digital finance and the web3 industry, aiming to make public digital money a reality. SODA believes institutions in the existing financial ecosystem should have access to the tools and resources they need to move from discussion to action. SODA offers ‘real life’ use cases to help test digital money and drive adoption as central banks and other public institutions explore the future of a more financially inclusive world powered by interoperable blockchain-based networks. SODA would love you to join us on this journey – please get in touch (chris@sodapublicmoney.org).
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