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Grayscale Investments
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustryFinance
Founded2013; 11 years ago (2013)
Headquarters
Stamford, Connecticut
,
United States
Key people
Peter Mintzberg (CEO)[1]
ServicesAsset management
AUMUS$50 billion (2021)
ParentDigital Currency Group
Websitegrayscale.com

Grayscale Investments is an American digital currency asset management company and subsidiary of Digital Currency Group founded in 2013[2] and based in Stamford, Connecticut.[3]

History

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Grayscale was founded in 2013, launching a bitcoin trust that year.[4] In 2015, the company became a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group.[5] The same year, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCQX: GBTC) began trading over-the-counter on the OTCQX market, becoming the first publicly traded bitcoin fund in the United States. The company charged higher than average fees compared to similar exchange-traded funds (ETFs), but said the fees were to cover the costs of trading bitcoin.[6][7] Grayscale sought to turn GBTC into an ETF in 2017, but voluntarily withdrew the application following negative remarks from the SEC.[8]

In 2017, Grayscale launched two additional cryptocurrency investment funds which held Ethereum Classic and Zcash. The following year, the company launched its fourth cryptocurrency fund, the Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC), initially holding bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Cash.[9] GDLC began trading publicly in October 2019.[10] GBTC became an SEC-reporting bitcoin investment fund in 2020. As such, it files publicly available financial disclosure forms, including the quarterly Form 10-Q and annual Form 10-K.[11]

In 2021, the company added Grayscale Solana Trust to its portfolio, the 16th such fund it manages.[12] The company managed digital assets totalling $50 billion.[13][14]

In 2022, Grayscale launched an ETF traded on American, British, Italian, and German exchanges that tracks the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index, consisting of a blend of companies, including asset managers, exchanges, brokerages, and cryptocurrency miners.[13] In June 2022, the SEC denied Grayscale's request to turn GBTC into an exchange-traded fund, citing concerns about the lack of oversight over cryptocurrencies and the risk of price fixing.[15] The denial prompted Grayscale to sue the agency.[16]

As of November 2022, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holds one of the largest shares of bitcoin (BTC), with 643,572 BTC, worth about $10.6 billion, approximately 3% of all Bitcoin currently available.[17]

For much of GBTC's existence, investors in the trust including Alameda Research engaged in arbitrage trades based on the difference in price between GBTC’s shares and the corresponding amount of bitcoin. At the time of Alameda’s bankruptcy, shares of GBTC were trading at a lower value than the corresponding amount of bitcoin held by the trust.[18] Alameda's post-bankruptcy management sued Grayscale in 2023 to recover the value of the shares in bitcoin.[19]

In 2022, the SEC denied the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF because of alleged lack of surveillance capabilities. Grayscale filed a case against the SEC arguing that the former allowed Bitcoin Futures ETF. Now, both Futures ETF and Spot ETF relied on the same underlying, i.e., Bitcoin. Grayscale while following the same surveillance measures was denied a license. Finally, it won the case by unanimous vote in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on August 29, 2023.[20] The move paved the way for multiple bitcoin ETFs - from ARK Investments, BlackRock, and Fidelity, as well as Grayscale - to come to market and allow for greater adoption for both institutional and retail investors. That was due, in part, to ETFs and retail investing being more regulated than other investments and because some institutional investors are prevented from investing directly in alternative assets.[21] Michael Sonnenshein suggested his firm's ETF would survive, along with a few others, but most wouldn't see widespread interest and adoption.[22]

Grayscale launched three new funds in July 2024: a spot Ether ETF,[23] a mini Bitcoin ETF,[24] and an investment fund for artificial intelligence-related cryptocurrency projects.[25] The following month, Peter Mintzberg succeeded Sonnenshein as CEO.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Schwartz, Leo (August 21, 2024). "A Goldman Sachs and BlackRock vet is now CEO of crypto giant Grayscale. Is he up to the job?". Fortune. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  2. ^ Rooney, Kate (November 1, 2018). "Crypto investment firm Grayscale rakes in $330 million this year despite bitcoin bear market". CNBC. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  3. ^ Reyes, Max (November 29, 2021). "Crypto Firm Digital Currency Finds New Home in Stamford". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on November 29, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  4. ^ Basar, Shanny (February 18, 2022). "Grayscale Investments Aims to Gain Share in US ETFs". Traders Magazine. Archived from the original on June 25, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  5. ^ Tepper, Fitz (October 27, 2015). "Barry Silbert Launches Digital Currency Group With Funding From MasterCard, Others". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  6. ^ Rosenfeld, Everett (April 1, 2015). "Public trading could begin next week for bitcoin fund". CNBC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  7. ^ Casey, Michael J. (March 1, 2015). "BIT Poised to Become Publicly Traded Bitcoin Fund". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 24, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  8. ^ Son, Hugh (October 15, 2021). "Grayscale Investments close to filing application for spot bitcoin ETF, source says". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  9. ^ Roberts, Daniel (February 7, 2018). "Exclusive: Grayscale launches new 'Digital Large Cap Fund' tied to 5 top cryptocurrencies". Yahoo! Finance. Archived from the original on November 8, 2023. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  10. ^ Schlegel, Jeff (October 15, 2019). "Finra OKs OTC Listing Of Digital Currencies Fund". Financial Advisor. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  11. ^ del Castillo, Michael (August 6, 2020). "20 Institutional Bitcoin Investors Revealed, But Soon The List May Vanish". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  12. ^ Ehrlich, Steven (November 30, 2021). "Grayscale Investments Launches Trust With Exposure To Ethereum Competitor Solana". Forbes. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  13. ^ a b Howcroft, Elizabeth (May 16, 2022). "Grayscale to launch digital assets ETF in UK, Italy, Germany". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 22, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  14. ^ Rooney, Kate (November 1, 2021). "Grayscale-parent Digital Currency Group tops $10 billion valuation with SoftBank, Alphabet investments". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved June 22, 2022.
  15. ^ Sutton, Sam; O'donnell, Katy; Weaver, Aubree Eliza (July 1, 2022). "No holiday break for crypto". Politico. Archived from the original on July 10, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  16. ^ Harty, Declan (June 30, 2022). "Grayscale escalates spot Bitcoin ETF debate with lawsuit against SEC". Fortune. Archived from the original on September 26, 2022. Retrieved February 22, 2022.
  17. ^ "Bitcoin teeters after Grayscale owner DCB reveals it's $2bn in debt". uk.finance.yahoo.com. November 25, 2022. Archived from the original on November 29, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  18. ^ Levine, Matt (March 7, 2023). "FTX Wants Its Bitcoins Back From Grayscale". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on March 11, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  19. ^ Asgari, Nikou; Miller, Joe; Gandel, Stephen (March 6, 2023). "FTX's trading affiliate Alameda sues Grayscale over crypto investments". Financial Times. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  20. ^ Lang, Hannah (August 29, 2023). "Explainer: Understanding Grayscale's victory in spot bitcoin ETF case". Reuters. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  21. ^ "Why a US bitcoin ETF is a game-changer for crypto". Yahoo Finance. January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  22. ^ Kharpal, Arjun (January 19, 2024). "Grayscale CEO says most of the 11 approved bitcoin ETFs won't survive, defends highest fees in industry". CNBC. Retrieved January 20, 2024.
  23. ^ Sigalos, MacKenzie (July 24, 2024). "Grayscale's $9 billion head start in ethereum is at risk as big investors launch ETFs". KNBC. CNBC. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  24. ^ Dale, Brady; Kim, Crystal (July 31, 2024). "Grayscale's mini bitcoin fund is live". Axios. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  25. ^ Yang, Yueqi (July 2024). "Grayscale Launches AI-Focused Crypto Fund". The Information. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
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