Coinbase is 'confident' a U.S. bitcoin ETF will be approved after SEC's court defeat

cnbc.com:

Coinbase is confident that a U.S. bitcoin exchange-traded fund will be approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, told CNBC.

«I'm quite hopeful that these [ETF] applications will be granted, if only because they should be granted under the law,» Grewal said in an interview with CNBC's Arjun Kharpal.

The SEC was recently dealt a major court setback when a judge ruled that the regulator had no basis to deny digital asset management Grayscale's bid to turn its huge GBTC bitcoin fund into an ETF.

The SEC last week declined to appeal that ruling by a key deadline, likely paving the way for a bitcoin-related ETF to be approved in the coming months.

«I think that the the firms that have stepped forward with robust proposals to our for these products and services are among some of the biggest blue-chips in financial services,» Grewal added.

«So that, I think, suggests that we will see progress there in short order.»

He didn't say when that's likely to happen, and added the caveat that any decision would ultimately be up to the SEC.

But, Grewal said, it's likely now that the regulator will approve a bitcoin ETF soon, highlighting the regulator's failure in court to block Grayscale from converting its GBTC bitcoin fund into an ETF.

«I think that, after the U.S. Court of Appeals made clear that the SEC could not reject these applications on arbitrary or capricious basis, we're going to see the commission fulfill its responsibilities. I'm quite confident of that.»

A bitcoin ETF would give investors a way to own bitcoin without having to make a direct purchase from an exchange.

That could be more appealing to retail investors looking to gain exposure to bitcoin without