The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF is a flagship product of the firm and was initially expected to be listed with Cboe Australia’s larger rival, ASX, where larger volumes are available.

Australia-based Monochrome Asset Management has applied for a spot bitcoin (BTC) exchange traded fund (ETF) with the global listing exchange, Cboe Australia, the firm announced on Friday.

If approved, the Monochrome Bitcoin ETF could be the first spot bitcoin ETF in Australia which allows direct holding of bitcoin. Australia already has two exchange-traded products providing exposure to spot crypto assets on Cboe Australia but they do not hold bitcoin directly.

The Monochrome Bitcoin ETF is a flagship product of the firm. It could have also been listed with Cboe Australia’s larger rival, ASX, where larger volumes are available. In January 2024, Monochrome Asset Management’s head of legal and compliance Derek Vladimir Henningsen told CoinDesk that they anticipated their bitcoin ETF would be listed in the second quarter of the year.

The announcement said the firm selected Cboe Australia as the listing venue for its bitcoin ETF because it aligns with its strategic goals to work with a market operator with an established reputation, strategic position and expertise across Asia, and broader investor access.

In Australia, unlike the U.S., firms have to first get approval from the regulator, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC), and then apply to an exchange for listing the product. Monochrome has already got approval from ASIC for its product.

“We expect a decision from Cboe Australia about our bitcoin ETF application before the middle of the year,” said Jeff Yew, Monochrome Asset Management CEO.

Cboe Australia is one of five of Cboe Global Markets’ global listings exchanges.

The post Australian Asset Manager Monochrome Applies With Cboe Australia for a Spot Bitcoin ETF, Eyes Decision By Mid-Year appeared first on Crypto Insider.

The legal brief filed Tuesday argues that the SEC’s logic for denying Grayscale’s application to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to a spot Bitcoin ETF is “flawed” and “inconsistently applied.”

Grayscale Investments called the the U S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) June decision to reject its application to convert its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) “arbitrary, capricious, and discriminatory” in an opening legal brief filed as part of its lawsuit against the regulator.

Grayscale filed suit against the SEC on June 29th, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to review the regulator’s decision, which the SEC has published earlier in the day.

Grayscale is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, the parent company of CoinDesk.

Grayscale is far from the only company whose spot bitcoin ETF application has been rejected – over the last year, the SEC has denied over a dozen similar applications from other major players in the crypto space, including WisdomTree and Ark21Shares, citing a lack of investor protections and the potential for fraud and manipulation.

WisdomTree’s latest application was rejected the same day Grayscale filed its brief.

While the agency has repeatedly rejected bitcoin spot ETF applications, it has approved several bitcoin futures ETFs, making a distinction between the offerings that Grayscale’s lawyers say is “arbitrary” and “outside the Commission’s authority.”

In the brief, the attorneys argue that, because Bitcoin futures and spot Bitcoin both generate their price based on overlapping indices, the spot price of Bitcoin in both spot and futures ETFs are subject to the same risks – and therefore, approving one and denying another is unfair.

“The Administrative Procedure Act and Exchange Act require rules and regulations to be applied without favoritism for one type of product or another,” said Craig Salm, Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, in a press statement.

The SEC’s response is due Nov. 9.

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