TL; DR
Full story
We all know the classic story of the Trojan Horse.
The one in which the Greeks donated a huge wooden horse to the city of Troy, filled with soldiers who jumped out once they were inside the walls of Troy and overtook the city.
Well, that same kind of tactic was used by Grayscale to get the BTC spot ETFs approved.
In August last year, Grayscale took the SEC to court, saying it was unfair that they had previously approved BTC future ETFs, but would not accept the BTC place ETFs.
This means that the SEC no longer really had a leg to stand on regarding denying BTC spot ETFs, and ultimately approved 11 of them in the US on January 10, 2024.
But it looks like shades of gray is not taking the same approach for their Ethereum spot ETF… at least not yet.
As of Tuesday, Grayscale has withdrawn their Ethereum futures ETF (and without ‘futures’ ETF approval, it’s a given that there will be no ‘spot’ ETF approval).
On the one hand, this means it won’t go to court now, which means the SEC can’t reject the ETH futures ETF on the grounds of legal primacy.
…on the other hand, that is because there is no ETH futures ETF application.
Is that because Grayscale is withdrawing, extending and resubmitting a stronger application? Or do they think it will never be approved and have permanently withdrawn the application?
Only Grayscale knows.