On July 28, the D.C. Circuit overturned a ruling by the SEC that SPIKES Index securities should be treated as 'futures' instead of 'securities futures', calling the SEC order "arbitrary and capricious." The SEC had exempted SPIKES Index from the definition of security futures in 2020 to promote competition among volatility indexes, but the court found the exemption to be "arbitrary and capricious" and lacking in explanation. As a result of the decision, SPIKES Index futures are now considered “securities futures” and market participants have three months to wind down their transactions. This ruling may also have implications for legal battles between crypto firms and the SEC, as two of the panel's judges are examining Grayscale's challenge to an SEC decision denying a request to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust to a spot Bitcoin ETF.
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