Grayscale Investments has fired back at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee (SEC) over its recent rejection of VanEck's spot Bitcoin ETF application.

The operator of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) issued a letter of the alphabet to the secretarial assistant of the SEC, Vanessa Countryman, on Monday to argue the SEC is wrong to reject spot Bitcoin ETFs since information technology has now canonical three Bitcoin futures ETFs, one each from VanEck, Valkyrie and ProShares.

Grayscale argues that the SEC has "no basis for the position that investing in the derivatives marketplace for an asset is acceptable for investors while investing in the asset itself is not."

Information technology claims the SEC violated the Administrative Protections Act (APA) by failing to treat the two Bitcoin ETF products the aforementioned.

A Bitcoin futures ETF allows traders to speculate on the future toll of Bitcoin (BTC) via derivatives, while a spot Bitcoin ETF would allow traders to merchandise on the current price of the asset, thereby performance similarly to holding the asset.

Grayscale is hardly a disinterested party with an awarding filed in October to list GBTC equally a Bitcoin spot ETF, with a decision possible as on Christmas Eve. On Nov. 12, the SEC rejected VanEck's similar application on the grounds that information technology was not consequent with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act).

Grayscale disagrees with those grounds for rejection.

"Nosotros believe this rationale failed adequately to have account of significant regulatory and competitive developments since 2022 when the Commission get-go considered, and denied, a national securities exchange'southward awarding to list and trade shares of a spot Bitcoin ETP."

In approving Bitcoin futures ETFs, Grayscale believes the SEC allowed applicants how to sidestep the requirements of Section 6(five)(b) under the Substitution Human action, which Bitcoin spot ETF applicants must adhere to.

Section 6(5)(b) is designed to "protect investors and the public interest" by preventing fraud and market manipulation while too disallowing "unfair bigotry between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers."

Related: Invesco launches spot Bitcoin ETP on Deutsche Borse

Grayscale had predicted that its Bitcoin spot ETF could be listed every bit presently every bit July 2022, but information technology is unclear whether that prediction will become reality.

GBTC has about $37.1 billion avails under management with 692,370,100 shares outstanding.