The case has been 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.
While the agency has rejected spot bitcoin ETFs, it has approved bitcoin futures ETFs, which track agreements to buy or sell bitcoin at a pre-agreed price.
Grayscale argued that the bitcoin futures ETF surveillance arrangements should also be satisfactory for Grayscale's spot ETF, since both products rely on bitcoin's underlying price.
Bitcoin futures ETFs track bitcoin futures that trade on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the chief venue for those products.
The court's panel of judges said Grayscale showed that its proposed bitcoin ETF is "materially similar" to the approved bitcoin futures ETFs.
Persons:
Dado Ruvic, Grayscale's, Donald Verrilli Jr, Hannah Lang, Michelle Price, Nick Zieminski
Organizations:
REUTERS, U.S, District of Columbia, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, New York Stock, Arca, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, CME, bitcoin, Supreme, Nasdaq, BlackRock, Fidelity, Thomson
Locations:
bitcoin, U.S, Washington