By John Reed Stark (July 28, 2022, 5:37 PM EDT) — On June 29, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission denied Grayscale Investments’s application for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund, the most recent of a dozen or so similar bitcoin ETF denials from the SEC.[1]
Led by CEO Michael Sonnenshein, Grayscale engaged in a high-stakes campaign to pressure the SEC to approve the first spot-based bitcoin ETF,[2] including renting all of the billboards in Washington, D.C.’s Union Station, encouraging people to write to the SEC and demand that the SEC approve the bitcoin ETF.
Grayscale’s marketing efforts succeeded in at least one regard: Per Grayscale, of the 11,609 comment letters, 99.96% supported…
