Grayscale GBTC discount falls to 16% as markets bet on Bitcoin ETF approval

Some analysts say GBTC’s discount is narrowing because investors are pricing in the SEC’s approval on several pending spot Bitcoin ETF applicationsGrayscale’s Bitcoin

BTC

tickers down

$27,857

investment vehicle, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), is trading at its lowest discount in nearly two years as spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) continue to inch toward potential approval in the United States.

The latest data from YCharts shows GBTC’s discount to Bitcoin’s net asset value (NAV) has narrowed to 15.87% as of Oct. 13.Discount to NAV is a percentage that measures the amount that a mutual fund or ETF is trading below its net asset value. The metric is used to track how far away a security is trading from its true value.

Data shows that GBTC’s discount began to narrow when BlackRock and several other financial institutions filed spot Bitcoin ETF applications in mid-June, where the discount fell from 44% on June 15 to 26.7% by July 5. Since then, the figure has continued to narrow.The last time GBTC’s discount was at a similar level was in early December 2021 — only a month after BTC hit its all-time high price of $69,000 on Nov. 10, according to CoinGecko.

Bitcoin advocate Oliver Velez believes the market is pricing in spot Bitcoin ETF approval by year’s end.

Other analysts, such as cryptocurrency investor Lyle Pratt, believe GBTC’s discount will continue to “evaporate” over the next week or two as spot Bitcoin ETFs near approval.