Grayscale Lines Up Jane Street and Virtu as 'Authorized Participants' if GBTC Converts to ETF

Grayscale Investments said Monday it would work with market-making heavyweights Jane Street and Virtu Financial as authorized participants should its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) garner Securities and Exchange Commission approval to be converted into an ETF.

"Authorized participants" are specialized traders that can create and redeem shares of an ETF.

A decision on Grayscale's ETF application is due on or before July 6, and the heavy betting is that the SEC will deny the proposal. Nevertheless, CEO Michael Sonnenshein this morning reiterated his company's "unequivocal" commitment to converting GBTC from a trust to a spot ETF.

Additionally, Grayscale earlier this month hired high-powered attorney and former Obama administration official Donald B. Verrilli to assist in those efforts, and has made little secret of its intent to take the SEC to court should the agency deny the ETF application.

GBTC currently trades at nearly a 30% discount to net asset value – an amount that would be quickly erased were the trust to become an ETF.

Bloomberg first reported the authorized-participants news, with Grayscale's VP of communications, Jennifer Rosenthal confirming the details to CoinDesk.

Virtu Financial earlier this month said it sees a market-making opportunity in crypto as demand for the asset class grows. It's working with Citadel Securities on creating a crypto marketplace.

Grayscale’s parent company is the Digital Currency Group, which also owns CoinDesk as an independent subsidiary.