May. 06, 2022
Dear SEC, I own six figures of GBTC and other Grayscale funds and seven figures of crypto. I am writing to support the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) — the world’s largest publicly-traded cryptocurrency fund — to an ETF. By not approving a spot ETF, you are not protecting investors like me, who you were appointed to protect. Rather, you have depressed the value of GBTC by around 25% relative to the underlying Bitcoin asset, and you have encouraged market manipulation via the Futures ETFs you approved in October. Because futures ETFs do not hold the underlying asset, this also reduces overall demand for the asset worldwide, further dampening the price of cryptocurrency. This move by the SEC appears designed to depress the value of cryptocurrency in a veiled and futile attempt to back the US Dollar on behalf of the US Government, which was designed to steal from The People through manufactured inflation. However, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies do not threaten the role of the US Dollar, and by hurting investors in the United States you are encouraging them to move their wealth and intellectual capital to other countries, which will damage the long term fortune and growth potential of the United States. It also decreases potential tax revenue. We are sophisticated investors who understand risks and have often experienced higher volatility from stocks and ETFs that the SEC has approved, which is hypocrisy. More than one quarter of US households own cryptocurrency and our numbers are growing exponentially because the power of a secure, fixed supply asset with utility cannot be stopped, only delayed. We are already a political force and will not stop until a spot ETF is approved and the lawsuit against Ripple is dropped (which is also hurting investors). There is no legal or moral basis for approving a futures ETF for a crypto asset without a spot ETF. I’m writing from Massachusetts, 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, Scott Allan Brown