Grayscale Launches New Entity to Manage Growing Funds

Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency asset manager, has announced the launch of a new entity, the Grayscale Funds Trust, to manage its publicly traded financial products in-house. The move indicates the company’s growing confidence in its ability to manage its funds internally.

In addition to the launch of the new trust, Grayscale has filed a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for three new cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The new funds include a Bitcoin Composite ETF, an Ethereum Futures ETF, and a Privacy ETF.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Composite ETF will invest in exchange-traded products related to or backed by Bitcoin, including Bitcoin mining firms. The Ethereum Futures ETF will offer indirect exposure to the potential future value of Ether through shares that track ETH’s price. The Grayscale Privacy ETF will invest in companies working on blockchain-based privacy technology.

However, until the registration statement is approved by the SEC, the funds will not be available for public purchase. This move comes as Grayscale continues to navigate a conflict with the SEC over converting its $17 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF product.

In January 2021, Grayscale sued the SEC for denying its application, arguing that the SEC acted unfairly in treating crypto spot traded exchange-traded products differently from futures products. Grayscale claims that there is a 99.9% correlation between prices in the Bitcoin futures market and the spot Bitcoin market. Despite the SEC’s approval of several Bitcoin Futures ETFs, it has so far rejected every application for a spot Bitcoin investment product due to concerns about exposing investors to potential fraud and market manipulation.

Despite these challenges, Grayscale’s move to launch new crypto ETFs and manage its publicly traded financial products in-house demonstrates the company’s commitment to the cryptocurrency market and its belief in the long-term potential of digital assets.

In conclusion, Grayscale Investments’ launch of the Grayscale Funds Trust and its filing of three new cryptocurrency-focused ETFs is a significant development for the company and the cryptocurrency market as a whole. While the SEC’s approval of these new ETFs is still pending, Grayscale’s continued efforts to introduce crypto-focused investment products is a positive sign for the industry’s growth and adoption.

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Grayscale Files for Three New Crypto ETFs

Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency asset manager, is seeking approval from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for three new cryptocurrency-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The new funds include a Bitcoin Composite ETF, an Ethereum Futures ETF, and a Privacy ETF.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Composite ETF will invest in exchange-traded products related to or backed by Bitcoin, including Bitcoin mining firms. The Ethereum Futures ETF, on the other hand, will offer indirect exposure to the potential future value of Ether through shares that track ETH’s price. The Grayscale Privacy ETF will invest in companies working on blockchain-based privacy technology.

Despite previous roadblocks from the SEC over crypto-related ETFs, Grayscale has filed a registration statement for the new ETFs. However, until the registration statement is approved, the funds will not be available for public purchase.

Grayscale also announced the launch of the Grayscale Funds Trust, a new arm of its business that allows it to manage many of its publicly traded financial products in-house. This move indicates the company’s growing confidence in its ability to manage its funds internally.

While Grayscale continues to navigate a conflict with the SEC over converting its $17 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF product, the company remains optimistic about the future of crypto ETFs. In January 2021, Grayscale sued the SEC for denying its application, arguing that the SEC acted unfairly in treating crypto spot traded exchange-traded products differently from futures products. Grayscale claims that there is a 99.9% correlation between prices in the Bitcoin futures market and the spot Bitcoin market.

Despite the SEC’s approval of several Bitcoin Futures ETFs, it has so far rejected every application for a spot Bitcoin investment product due to concerns about exposing investors to potential fraud and market manipulation. However, Grayscale’s move to launch new crypto ETFs and manage its publicly traded financial products in-house demonstrates the company’s commitment to the cryptocurrency market and its belief in the long-term potential of digital assets.

In conclusion, Grayscale Investments’ filing of three new cryptocurrency-focused ETFs and the launch of its Grayscale Funds Trust is a significant step forward for the company and the cryptocurrency market as a whole. While the SEC’s approval of these new ETFs is still pending, Grayscale’s continued efforts to introduce crypto-focused investment products is a positive sign for the industry’s growth and adoption.

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Coinbase Up 69%, MicroStrategy Up 74% From Lows

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It’s been green candles all around since the beginning of 2023, as the share price of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has increased by 69% since it hit an all-time low, and other crypto-related firms, like business analytics company MicroStrategy, have enjoyed similar rises.

On January 6, the price of a share of Coinbase reached a low of $31.95, but by the time trading was done on January 17, it had climbed all the way back up to $54.14. After a difficult year in 2022, during which Coinbase reduced its employees by 20% and wound down its activities in Japan, the increasing share price is expected to be met by a great sigh of relief from the company’s leadership.

Despite the recent increase, COIN is still trading at a price that is more than 84% lower than its all-time high. Other crypto-related companies, such as MicroStrategy and Block Inc., which is a digital payments startup, have also had significant price increases since the beginning of the year.

MicroStrategy’s share price has increased to nearly $236, representing an increase of over 74%, from a low of just over $135 on December 29; this compares to Jack Dorsey’s Block’s share price, which has seen a muted but still respectable increase of 27%, after rebounding from a low of under $59 on December 28 to over $75.

The recovery for crypto mining equities has been much more spectacular. During the first two weeks of the new year, both Bitfarms and Marathon Digital Holdings saw their share prices increase by a significant amount: 140% and 120%, respectively.

Crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) also returned, although to a lesser degree, with the price of the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI) more than doubling from its low point of little over $4 on December 28 to over $8 today.

The price of the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) has more than doubled from the 28th of December, when it was over $10, and is now hovering around $13; this represents an increase of just under one-third.

After having traded at a discount of more than 45% on December 28, it is now resting at a discount of just over 36% at this time.

It is interesting to note that December 28 seemed to represent a market bottom for many different cryptocurrencies and stocks, despite the fact that some market analysts believe Bitcoin in particular has skyrocketed on the back of the positive inflation figures from the United States that were released on January 12. Bitcoin’s price has increased by over 17% since those positive inflation figures were released.

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Fidelity Launches Two ETFs Tracking Metaverse and Crypto Sectors

Fidelity Investments Inc., a multinational financial services corporation based in Boston, announced Tuesday the launch of two new thematic exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF (FDIG) and Fidelity Metaverse ETF (FMET).

The two ETFs will track and reflect the performance of companies exposed to the metaverse and cryptocurrency sectors.

Fidelity Crypto Industry and Digital Payments ETF will not provide direct exposure to cryptocurrency. Still, they will allow investors to invest in companies that support the broader digital assets ecosystem, including those involved in crypto trading, mining and digital payments processing, and blockchain technology.

On the other hand, Fidelity Metaverse ETF will allow investors to invest in the evolution and future of the internet by providing them with access to invest in companies that develop, manufacture, distribute, or sell products or services related to establishing and enabling the metaverse, like computing hardware and components, digital infrastructure, design and engineering software, gaming technology and software, web development and content services, and smartphone and wearable technology.

Greg Friedman, Fidelity’s Head of ETF Management and Strategy, talked about the development and said: “Leveraging Fidelity’s decades of investment expertise, we are focused on growing our broad product lineup with innovative strategies that offer choice, value and new opportunities to investors. We continue to see demand, particularly from young investors, for access to the rapidly growing industries in the digital ecosystem, and these two thematic ETFs offer investors exposure in a familiar investment vehicle.” Fidelity stated that the new funds will be available on or around April 21.

Providing Investors Access to Investing in Digital Assets

Fidelity Investments launched its crypto-dedicated subsidiary, Fidelity Digital Assets, in October 2018 with the aim of offering crypto services to its institutional and sophisticated investors. Since then, Fidelity has continued to dive deeper into the crypto space than previously imagined.

Last July, Fidelity expanded the headcounts of its digital assets team as cryptocurrencies were witnessing a series of financial advisers, family offices and other investors get on board. Fidelity, which provides institutional services like digital coin custody to trade execution, wanted to expand its digital asset employees by 70% by the end of that year. The hiring spree came after the firm filed paperwork to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a Bitcoin investment fund in March.

Established in 1946, Fidelity Investments Inc is a U.S. multinational financial services corporation based in Boston. The firm is the world’s fourth-largest asset management company with $4.5 trillion in assets under management and assets under administration of $11.8 trillion, as of December 2021.

Image source: Shutterstock

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SEC Delays Decision On Bitwise ETF Once Again

Key Takeaways

  • The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on whether or not to approve Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF.
  • The SEC previously delayed its decision in December.
  • The regulator can postpone matters once more to Oct. 13, 2022.




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The SEC has delayed its decision on a proposal for a Bitcoin ETF from Bitwise Asset Management, according to a filing from the regulator today.

SEC Delays Choice on Bitwise ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing postpones the approval or rejection of Bitwise’s ETF, which aimed for a listing on ICE’s NYSE Arca exchange in the near future.

In the relevant filing, the SEC also issued a request for comments. It sought information on expected trading volumes, protections against fraud and manipulation, and other matters.



Bitwise and NYSE Arca submitted their application and proposed rule change in October. The SEC delayed its decision on the proposal in December. Prior to this new delay, the regulator would have been forced to make a decision by today, Feb. 1.

Jake Chervinsky of the Blockchain Association noted today that the SEC’s deadline is now August 14. He added that the SEC can delay its decision just “one more time to a final deadline” of Oct. 13.

The SEC Has Denied Many ETFs

Bitwise is one of many firms aiming to create the first Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, which would provide exposure to the value of Bitcoin without requiring investors to actually purchase crypto.


Despite the SEC’s repeated failure to approve a Bitcoin spot ETF, the company approved several Bitcoin futures ETFs last year. Valkyrie, VanEck, and ProShares now offer those investment funds.

As such, many in the crypto industry remain optimistic that the SEC will soon approve a Bitcoin spot ETF.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.



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VanEck launches its first multi-token cryptocurrency fund

On Monday, VanEck, a financial institution with close to $82 billion in assets under management with exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, mutual funds, and institutional accounts, announced the launch of its first cryptocurrency fund. The fund is listed as an exchange-traded note, or ETN, on the Deutsche Borse Xetra and SIX Swiss Exchanges with exposure to Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polkadot (DOT), Solana (SOL), Tron, Avalanche (AVAX), and Polygon (MATIC).

Gijs Koning, co-head of VanEck Europe, elaborated on why it was important for the firm to facilitate investment in digital currencies:

In early 2017, we determined that digital assets could provide a store of value alternative to currencies and gold, as well as a host of technology solutions that could bring down costs in the payments and investing industries.

While VanEck’s cryptocurrency financial products are gaining traction in Europe, they face regulatory hurdles in the U.S. There, the firm’s offerings are limited to private digital currency funds for institutional investors and only stock-based ETFs comprised of companies utilizing blockchain technology.

Last November, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rejected VanEck’s Bitcoin spot ETF application. In explaining the decision, the regulatory agency cited that the underlying exchange responsible for listing the ETF, the Cboe BZX, did not have a proper “surveillance-sharing agreement with markets trading the underlying assets [of Bitcoin].” The SEC then used the same rule to reject Fidelity’s Wise Origin Bitcoin Trust spot ETF the week prior. Two ETFs, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF and Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF, received SEC approval partly because they track the price of regulated Bitcoin futures contracts, and not its spot price derived from averages of numerous exchanges.