May. 06, 2022
Dear SEC, I write to you as a GBTC shareholder, in support of the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) to an ETF. By not approving this conversion, you are not protecting me, the investor – the very person you were appointed to protect. Your agency purports to work on behalf of investors to reduce risk and, yet, by not allowing GBTC to convert you are continuing to add the risk of “discounts to NAV” to the mix. Current GBTC investors who bought when shares were selling at a premium have seen their holdings decline dramatically. For example, a shareholder purchasing shares 3/11/2019 paid a 21% premium to NAV, and those same shares today are trading at a 25% discount to NAV. Again, the SEC can eliminate this risk, AND a good portion of the current discount to NAV simply by allowing GBTC to transition to an ETF. This is no small accomplishment as GBTC currently holds $30Bn in AUM. Please act on this expeditiously. Your role here is not to protect fiat currency by suppressing investor interest in digital currencies, but to protect investors from undue risk. Thank you for your consideration. Ed Thomson, CPA-retired