SEC’s Delay Throws Grayscale Fund into Comic Limbo: Is Your Crypto Safe?

by

What ho, old sport! Here’s the gist:

  • The SEC, ever fond of an impromptu intermission, has put the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) ETF’s debut on ice so the commissioners can have a bit of a chinwag following a premature burst of approval.
  • Rumor has it, this is less political chess and more bureaucratic hopscotch over crypto ETF standards. The sort of thing that keeps regulatory chaps up at night, no doubt.
  • The GDLC basket is positively teeming with XRP and Cardano, two assets yet to have their own personal ETFs. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, being alpha types, already have theirs—naturally.

Sources deeply entrenched in the sausage factory that is regulatory process inform CoinDesk that the SEC’s freeze on the GDLC spectacle is a matter of paperwork and protocol, rather than clandestine vendettas.

Here’s the lark: while the ever-diligent SEC staff initially gave GDLC the thumbs up (very hush-hush, not a vote in sight), the commissioners suddenly fancied a closer look, calling “time out!” Faster than you can say “red tape!”, Grayscale and the New York Stock Exchange were left hanging in suspense—a kind of bureaucratic cliffhanger, if you will.

The GDLC struts about town on the arm of CoinDesk’s Five Index—quite the socialite among digital funds.

This pause, we’re told, gives the SEC a splendid window for devising proper house rules for any ETF aspiring to attend the same soiree. You can’t expect just anyone to waltz in, after all.

The plot thickens: GDLC’s charm arises from its medley of assets. XRP 🐍 and Cardano 🦦 are still ETF wallflowers. Bitcoin and Ethereum, on the other hand, have been the belles of the ETF ball since 2024, and Solana sashayed in just last week. The SEC, meanwhile, eyes the calendar and considers applications for XRP, ADA, and SOL with the air of a headmaster facing student essays.

Bloomberg’s ETF sleuth James Seyffart declared the SEC’s maneuver “not normal,” suggesting either a craving for new standards or some inscrutable tinkering with GDLC’s innards—possibly even a bout of existential pondering. (Let’s hope they brought snacks.)

A Grayscale spokesperson, caught mid-sandwich, pronounced the SEC’s shenanigans “unexpected” (not the word I’d choose if my dinner were interrupted by the SEC, but one wishes to remain polite), and insists the outfit remains undeterred, “working with stakeholders” and “providing updates.” A stirring rallying cry, if slightly reminiscent of a cricket captain assuring spectators the rain will clear shortly. ☂️

An 8-K filing (which, I presume, is regulatory code for “Hold on, chums!”) assures us that Grayscale is gamely pursuing NYSE Arca listing and won’t bolt just because the SEC has thrown the pitch into a puddle.

Reporting cap — feathered, obviously — tipped to Helene Braun.

Read More

2025-07-04 00:28