As pressure mounts on regulators, things are looking up for the largest U.S. institutional Bitcoin product by asset holdings.
Data from on-chain monitoring resource Coinglass confirms that, as of April 21, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is rebounding toward its 2022 high.
Greyscale CEO: It's not 'if', it's 'when' for us Bitcoin spot ETF
After a difficult year so far, GBTC has benefited from stable price movements in Bitcoin.
Bitcoin's fall from its record high in November has exacerbated GBTC's already negative "premium," meaning its price effectively trades at a discount to bitcoin's spot price. In January, the GBTC premium was close to -30%, the biggest drop on record.
Since then, things have reversed, and as of Thursday, the premium stood at -21.4%, close to the 2022 high.
The premium stems from trading sentiment, and grayscale has been under pressure over the past year, particularly following the approval of the first US exchange traded funds based on bitcoin futures.
Gray's chief executive, Michael Sonnenshein, and others in the industry have been vocal critics of regulators in Washington, who have approved futures ETFs but refused to launch spot ETFs based on bitcoin.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which approves ETF candidates under laws dating back to 1933, has been criticised for getting ahead of the US in this area by other countries, most recently Australia.
Earlier this month, the SEC approved another futures-based ETF, this time under the Securities Act of 1933 rather than the Investment Company Act of 1940, as previously used. 'It's a milestone because it effectively backs the SEC into a corner,' Sonnenshein told CNBC this month. 'There are fewer and fewer excuses not to break down the barriers to entry for cash ETF alternatives.'
"In our view, it's really a matter of 'when,' not 'if,'" he explained to CNBC.
"If the SEC is not able to look at two similar issues, futures etFs and spot ETFs, in the same light, then in fact that could be grounds for apa violations."
Matt Hougan, chief executive of ETF provider Bitwise, said in the same interview that spot ETFs "are what people really want" in terms of institutional investment products linked to bitcoin.
According to Cointelegraph, futures ETFs have faced criticism before, with critics arguing that they don't address any of the pain points that physical products do, while potentially creating new problems.
Nasdaq highlights' surge 'in Institutional Demand
Meanwhile, a Nasdaq survey of potential US investors showed that more than 70 per cent of respondents would consider investing in bitcoin through a physical ETF if one were available.
Jake Rapaport, head of research for the Nasdaq Digital Asset Index, said in an accompanying press release on April 11 that "the vast majority of advisers we surveyed either plan to start allocating money to cryptocurrencies or increase their allocation to existing cryptocurrencies."
"As demand continues to soar, consultants will look for institutional solutions to the encryption issues that currently dominate client conversations."
The survey also found that 86% of advisers who have invested in cryptocurrencies plan to increase their investments in the coming year.
As of Thursday, GBTC held 640,930 BTCS worth $26.9 billion.