May. 06, 2022
Dear SEC: As a GBTC shareholder, I would like to express my support for the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) — the world’s largest publicly-traded cryptocurrency fund — to an ETF. By approving this conversion, you will protect investors like me. Moreover, such approval will provide more transparency to the price and liquidity to my investment. Last October, you approved futures-backed Bitcoin ETFs, but continue to reject applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs. Given that investors use both vehicles to gain exposure to the same underlying asset, Bitcoin—from which both vehicles derive their prices—we, as investors, should be able to choose if we’d like direct or futures-based exposure to that asset. Furthermore, the discount to NAV in GBTC has been around 25%, on average, this year. This means that the price of GBTC is less than the price of Bitcoin, the asset itself. Given that GBTC has about $30bn in AUM, shareholders like me are experiencing a destruction of value of around $7.5 billion. I’m writing from the State of Virginia, with gratitude for the opportunity to express my view and with the hope that you will approve this conversion and protect the interest of investors. Sincerely, Alberto Morantes