What’s at stake in Grayscale’s spot bitcoin ETF case against the SEC?

The US District of Columbia Court of Appeals will soon rule on whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wrongly rejected an application from crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments to list an exchange-traded fund that tracks the price of bitcoin.

The case is being closely watched by the cryptocurrency and asset management industries, which have been trying for years to convince the SEC to approve a spot bitcoin ETF. They say it would allow investors to gain exposure to bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, without having to own it. The SEC, though, worries spot bitcoin ETFs will be vulnerable to manipulation.