A handful of hedge funds made a winning bet on approval of a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by investing in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) well ahead of regulatory sign off, according to sources familiar with the matter. Hedge funds bought shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) between 2021 and 2023 betting its price would skyrocket once the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) gave the spot bitcoin ETF its green light, the sources said. Grayscale had been unsuccessfully trying to convert its trust into an ETF since 2016 and filed a lawsuit against the SEC in 2022 after the regulator rejected ... (full story)