1. Home
  2. Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

Crypto exchange FTX gets nod to sell $873M of assets to repay creditors

Nearly $700 million of the $873 million trust assets allowed to be sold by FTX comes from Grayscale’s flagship product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or GBTC.

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX has been given the green light to sell around $873 million of trust assets, with proceeds used to repay creditors impacted by the exchange’s collapse in 2022, according to a Nov. 29 filing in a Delaware bankruptcy court.

The $873 million in assets will be sourced from FTX’s stakes in various trusts issued by crypto asset manager Grayscale Investments, valued at $807 million, and custody service provider Bitwise — valued at $66 million.

While the court document references a total of $744 million in assets — this is due to the valuation figure being as of Oct. 25, 2023. The assets have increased in value since. 

Order authorizing FTX Trading to sell trust assets. Source: Kroll

The approval comes nearly four weeks after FTX debtors filed a motion to Judge John Dorsey on Nov. 3 requesting the sale of the six cryptocurrency trusts — including the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), and Bitwise 10 Crypto Index Fund (BITW).

FTX currently owns over 22 million units of GBTC, Grayscale’s flagship Bitcoin product, now worth $691 million, while its 6.3 million shares of ETHE are now worth around $106 million.

Grayscale’s Ethereum Classic Trust (ETCG), Litecoin Trust (LTCN) and Digital Large Cap Trust (GDLC) are the three other trusts that FTX can now sell to recoup funds for impacted FTX customers.

FTX's shares in Grayscale and Bitwise were worth $744 million as of Oct. 25, but the valued has increased since. Source: Kroll

FTX’s administrators, headed by John. J Ray III, has been working to recover assets since Sam Bankman-Fried’s former empire collapsed in November 2022.

So far, around $7 billion in assets has been recovered, with nearly half of that coming in the form of cryptocurrencies ($3.4 billion).

In June, FTX’s debtors estimated the total amount of customer assets misappropriated was $8.7 billion.

Related: FTX Foundation staffer fights for $275K bonus promised by SBF

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven fraud-related charges on Nov. 2 and is set to be sentenced on March 28.

He remains in Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center for the time being, where he recently paid four mackerels in exchange for a haircut.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Discount Narrows As Court Gears Up To Issue GBTC Mandate: Report

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Discount Narrows As Court Gears Up To Issue GBTC Mandate: Report

The long-discounted price of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is catching up to its net asset value (NAV) amid potentially positive judicial developments. GBTC is trading at a -15.87% discount to its net asset value as of October 13th, compared to around 21% at the beginning of the month, more than 43% in June and […]

The post Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Discount Narrows As Court Gears Up To Issue GBTC Mandate: Report appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

SEC reportedly wont appeal court decision on Grayscale Bitcoin ETF

If true, the SEC will need to review and make a decision on Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF application. If denied, Grayscale could appeal the decision.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly has no plans to appeal the recent court decision that favored Grayscale Investments. The ruling requires the SEC to review the firm’s spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund application.

The SEC’s supposed decision not to appeal the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling was highlighted in an Oct. 13 report from Reuters, which cited “a source familiar with the matter.”

Bloomberg analysts also expect the SEC not to appeal to the Supreme Court but emphasized that this doesn’t necessarily mean Grayscale’s application is set to be approved.

If the reports are true, the SEC will need to follow the court’s August order and review Grayscale’s application to change its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF.

According to Reuters, the appeals court is expected to issue a mandate specifically outlining how its ruling should be “executed” by the SEC.

Commenting on the developments, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted via X that:

“I do not think they will appeal to the Supreme Court either. Dialogue between Grayscale and SEC should begin next week. Hoping for more info on next steps sometime next week or week after?”

Moving forward, Seyffart suggested that it is likely that “we will find out in the next week (or two)” what the deadline is for the SEC to approve or deny Grayscale’s spot BTC ETF application.

If the SEC were to deny the application, Grayscale could then appeal that decision, dragging the process out even longer.

Related: Bitcoin price gets new $25K target as SEC decision day boosts GBTC

As it stands, around seven spot Bitcoin ETF applications have been put before the SEC that are awaiting a decision from the regulator.

In a separate preceding X post on Oct. 13, Seyffart reiterated his view that there is a 90% chance that a spot Bitcoin ETF application will get approved in January 2024, specifically the application from Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest.

Seyffart and Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, also previously suggested that there is a 75% chance that an application will get approved in 2023.

Magazine: Hall of Flame: Crypto lawyer Irina Heaver on death threats, lawsuit predictions

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

Bitcoin ETFs have 75% chance of approval this year: Bloomberg analysts

Bloomberg ETF analysts raised their odds for a spot Bitcoin ETF approval after the recent Grayscale victory against the SEC.

Bloomberg analysts have raised the probability for an approved spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the end of 2023, following a recent Grayscale victory against the federal securities regulator.

In a Aug. 30 post on X (Twitter), Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said they have raised the chances to 75% from an earlier 65% — due to the unanimity and decisiveness at which the United States Court of Appeals Circuit reached its decision in the recent case.

“The judges unanimously repudiated the SEC’s arguments, and the agency will struggle to justify further denials as it faces deadlines,” Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Elliot Stein added in a separate Aug. 30 note.

In his own post on X, Seyffart added that spot Bitcoin ETF approvals will likely be a “done deal” by Q4 2024, estimating the approval odds to have now skyrocketed to 95% by then.

Balchunas added that given the recent legal and public relations loss, a denial by the SEC will be “politically untennable.”

Related: Grayscale wins the court battle, but what does this mean for a spot Bitcoin ETF?

Over the next five days, seven Bitcoin spot ETF applications are due for a “first deadline” decision by the SEC, including Bitwise, BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdomtree and Valkyrie.

Balchunas said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the SEC delays these upcoming Bitcoin spot ETF applications.

But the most likely outcome will be that we unexpectedly wake up to the SEC giving in and approving the Bitcoin spot ETFs in one hit, he said.

Magazine: Hall of Flame: Wolf Of All Streets worries about a world where Bitcoin hits $1M

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

SEC’s first deadlines to approve 7 Bitcoin ETFs coming over the next week

Analysts say the best-case scenario is the SEC approves the batch of spot Bitcoin ETFs but it may also exercise its right to an appeal.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is facing its first deadlines to decide on seven new Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund applications with the latest being Sept. 4 amid its defeat to Grayscale Investments in a U.S. federal appeals court.

Investment firm Bitwise will learn if its ETF will win the SEC’s approval on Sept. 1 while BlackRock, VanEck, Fidelity, Invesco and Wisdomtree will all be awaiting the SEC’s decision for their funds by Sept. 2, according to several SEC filings.

Meanwhile, Valkyrie is set to hear back from the SEC on Sept. 4.

List of recent Bitcoin spot ETF applicant filing dates and deadlines. Source: Bloomberg

The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled on Aug. 29 that the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s application to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot Bitcoin ETF was “arbitrary and capricious” — but it doesn’t mean the SEC must approve Grayscale’s application or others in the future, says Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart.

In an Aug. 29 Bloomberg interview, Seyffart explained Grayscale’s win “definitely” increases the odds of a successful outcome for the next wave of applicants.

He isn’t sure when that day may come though, as the SEC can delay its decisions and has two more proposed deadlines for each fund before being forced to make a final decision on the 240th day post-filing.

For the awaiting applicants, the final deadlines for the SEC are al mid-March next year.

What are the SEC’s options post-Grayscale decision?

After today’s ruling in favor of Grayscale, the regulator has 90 days to file an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court or apply for an En banc review — where a full circuit court can overturn a ruling made by a three-judge panel.

However, the SEC hasn’t made clear what its next move will be.

If the SEC doesn’t appeal the court will need to specify how its ruling is executed which could include instructing the SEC to approve Grayscale’s application, or at the very least revisit it.

Related: BTC price jumps to 2-week highs on Grayscale vs. SEC Bitcoin ETF win

Either way, Seyffart only saw two viable options for the regulator.

The first is for it to concede defeat and approve Grayscale’s conversion of its GBTC to a Bitcoin spot ETF.

Alternatively, the SEC would need to revoke the listing of Bitcoin futures ETFs entirely or deny Grayscale’s application based on a new argument, said Seyffart.

However, fellow Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas considered the odds of the SEC revoking the Bitcoin futures ETFs as “highly unlikely” because of the SEC's reported openness to Ethereum futures ETFs.

Magazine: Hall of Flame: Wolf Of All Streets worries about a world where Bitcoin hits $1M

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

Grayscale Bitcoin Trust nears 2023 highs on BlackRock ETF filing as buyers step up

Institutional buying interest in GBTC accompanies hopes that BlackRock will secure the first U.S. Bitcoin spot ETF.

Bitcoin (BTC) plans by BlackRock appear to have sparked a rally in the “OG” institutional BTC investment vehicle.

Data from monitoring resource CoinGlass shows that on June 17, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) almost hit new 2023 highs.

GBTC "premium" heads below -37%

Bitcoin market sentiment showed a modest improvement late last week as news emerged that the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, had filed to launch a Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF).

While still not allowed in the United States, a spot ETF from a stalwart entity such as BlackRock should have better chances of breaking the legal impasse, some say.

In the meantime, however, signs of optimism beyond sentiment are becoming clearer — GBTC, long trading at a major discount to BTC spot, is on the way up.

According to CoinGlass, that discount, or a negative “premium,” used to characterize GBTC share prices, is currently at -36.6%.

While still heavily discounted, GBTC thus trades closer to zero than at almost any time this year. On June 13, for example, the discount was closer to -44%.

GBTC premium vs. asset holdings vs. BTC/USD chart (screenshot). Source: CoinGlass

“If the Blackrock ETF does get approved, the real winner here is going to be $GBTC,” Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, wrote in part of Twitter commentary at the weekend.

“Because Blackrock will show the path to conversion, and GBTC's 40%+ discount will resolve on top of industry growth.”

Cochran continued that he thought BlackRock’s offering has “good odds” of getting U.S. regulatory approval.

“Very different structure than other efforts by a behemoth who doesn’t lose. ‘30 act redeemable trust w/ redemptions (unlike GBTC) + proposed rule change filing. They came to play,” he added.

ARK yet to join latest buyers

The BlackRock move is already shrouded in controversy of its own, as market commentators spar over whether it is in fact an ETF at all.

Related: Why is the crypto market up today?

Some argue that it will simply be a similar Trust to GBTC, while others, including Cochran, adopt a more nuanced view.

“IT’S OK TO CALL IT AN ETF GUYS,” Cory Klippsten, CEO of Bitcoin financial services firm Swan, summarized.

“Securities Act of 1933 filing under Form S-1, NOT Form N-1A (like 99% of stock ETFs). Will trade on exchange and be redeemable to the issuer. WAY better than GBTC. Now we’ll wait to see if the SEC approves Blackrock’s spot Bitcoin ETF.”

That aside, investor interest in GBTC is rising as a result. Among the eager buyers is hedge fund North Rock Digital.

“We have been accumulating more of the greyscale trusts consistently over the last several weeks,” it announced post-BlackRock.

“RR seems massively skewed at current levels. 50% upside if Greyscale wins, which we expect, and minimal downside if they lose. This filing could be a catalyst to see them tighten to more rational levels.”

One major holder yet to up exposure, meanwhile, is ARK Invest, which continues to hold around 5.37 million GBTC shares.

Data from Cathie's ARK, a dedicated tracking website for ARK CEO, Cathie Wood, confirms those holdings gradually declining through 2023.

ARK Invest GBTC holdings chart (screenshot). Source: Cathie's ARK

Magazine: Gary Gensler’s job at risk, BlackRock’s first spot Bitcoin ETF and other news: Hodler’s Digest, June 11-17

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

SOL price risks 20% drop despite Grayscale Solana Trust’s retail debut

The latest Solana rally has had it return to the resistance range that prompted 25-40% price pullbacks multiple times this year.

On April 17, the price of Solana (SOL) crept lower in the wake of similar price moves across the top-ranking cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

SOL's price dropped over 4% under $24.50 despite rising to $26 — a two-month high — earlier in the day.

In comparison, BTC's and ETH's prices dropped 3.5% and 3%, respectively, hinting at a bearish start to the week.

SOL/USD hourly price chart. Source: TradingView

SOL price in a technical correction

The SOL/USD selloff on April 17 started after it entered its 2023 resistance range.

Notably, the $25-27 price area has capped Solana's upside attempts since January 2023. Testing it as resistance has preceded 25-40% corrections on multiple occasions this years, as illustrated below.

SOL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The possibility of undergoing a sharp bearish reversal in April has now increased as SOL's price returns into the range and its daily relative strength index (RSI) hangs around the overbought threshold of 70.

In this bear scenario, the immediate downside target appears to be around $20, about 20% lower than the current prices. 

Conversely, a decisive breakout above the $25-27 price range could have SOL price climb toward $30, which served as support in August-October 2022.

Such a breakout could extend until $35 over the next few months, and this level coincides with SOL's 50-week exponential moving average (the red wave in the chart below).

SOL/USD weekly price chart. Source: TradingView

Grayscale Solana Trust goes public

On April 17, U.S.-based Grayscale Investments announced that its Grayscale Solana Trust has begun trading on OTC Markets under the symbol: GSOL.

Related: Solana overcomes FTX fiasco — SOL price gains 100% in Q1

To recap: the Grayscale Solana Trust is a security that derives its value from the SOL's spot price. In doing so, the trust enables investors to gain exposure in the Solana market while avoiding the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping SOL directly.

Interestingly, SOL's price dropped by up to 4.40% after the announcement, suggesting traders likely "sold the news" of an institutional Solana investment product going public. 

SOLUSD hourly price chart. Source: TradingView

One reason for the bearish debut for GSOL is the current state of Grayscale Trusts on the whole. Notably, they act like closed-end funds, meaning Grayscale cannot issue new shares or remove shares from the open market to adjust to capital inflow or outflow.

As a result, the share price of the Solana Trust can deviate from the net asset value. This could spook investors in a bear market when their GSOL starts trading at a discount versus the value of Grayscale's SOL reserves, similar to the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

As of April 17, Grayscale Solana Trust's holdings per share were up around 148% YTD stemming from identical gains in SOL/USD. 

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

Cathie Wood: Ark dumps 500K GBTC shares, adds Coinbase stock as Bitcoin recovers 40%

Ark's GBTC weight in the portfolio actually increased despite the fund selling 500,000 shares in the past month.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest offloaded a chunk of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) shares since November's Bitcoin (BTC) price lows, the latest data shows.

Cathie Wood's Ark short-term cautious on GBTC

Ark Invest added 450,272 GBTC shares worth $4.5 million to its ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW) in November 2022. At the time, GBTC was trading in the $7.46-$9.48 range versus $12.25 in January 2023.

GBTC price, of course, recovered alongside Bitcoin, rising roughly 40% from its November lows. The recovery in January also helped reduce the GBTC "discount" from nearly 50% to 40%, according to YCharts.

GBTC daily price chart. Source: TradingView

Interestingly, the share price rebound coincided with a reduction in ARKW's GBTC holdings by 500,000 shares, suggesting profit taking in the short ter.

GBTC shares (purple) in Ark's ETF versus its price (orange). Source: Cathiesark.com

Moreover, Ark's reduction in shares since November appears in line with its officially "bearish view" on the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, as mentioned in its December report, which stated that:

"The Digital Currency Group (DCG) appears to be one of the biggest questions marks in the crypto industry at this time."

The company also expressed concerns about Genesis Global, a cryptocurrency lender owned by DCG. Genesis filed for bankruptcy while claiming $1 billion to $10 billion in liabilities to over 100,000 creditors.

Meanwhile, Grayscale has been unable to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF following rejections from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As Cointelegraph reported, an approval from the SEC could reset GBTC's discount to zero.

Nonetheless, as of Jan. 23, GBTC's share weight in Ark's portfolio has actually increased to 0.52% compared to its November 2022 low of 0.35%. 

GBTC shares' weight (purple) across Ark ETFs. Source: Cathiesark.com

Ark adds $17.6M in Coinbase stock

Ark's selling of GBTC shares in the past weeks coincided with accumulation of Coinbase (COIN) shares. 

Cathie Wood's ARKW added 320,000 COIN shares (about $17.6 million) in 2023. As a result, the Coinbase stock's weight in Ark Invest's combined ETF portfolios has reached nearly 3.62% on Jan. 23 versus 2.73% at the start of this year.

COIN shares (purple) in Ark's ETF versus its price (orange). Source: Cathiesark.com

Overall, Ark appears to be only increasing its exposure to the Bitcoin market, particularly as Wood is well known for her consistent $1 million BTC price prediction by 2030. 

Can the GBTC price rally continue?

Similarly, Greenery Financial, an investment strategy firm, confirmed that it had shifted its GBTC exposure to ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BITO) due to the above-mentioned risks around DCG.

"Any bad news, be it Cathie Wood selling out of GBTC or DCG going bankrupt, will spark the same fears and doubt - of uncertainty - and likely cause an expansion of the discount once again," the firm warned in its SeekingAlpha note, saying:

"With Bitcoin having no real catalyst in the short term and plenty of potential downside catalysts, there are plenty of risks here from the NAV side as well."

Nonetheless Bitcoin and GBTC prices may keep on rallying through Q1 from a technical perspective.

On the daily chart, GBTC has reclaimed its 50-day exponential moving average (50-day EMA; the red wave in the chart below) near $9.68 as support.

Related: Grayscale files brief in ETF suit against SEC, oral arguments may come within months

Upward momentum could see it test the 200-day EMA (the blue wave) near $15 if it continues to float above the 50-day EMA wave, similar to what happened in March-April 2022.

GBTC daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The technical upside target falls in line with what Pat Tschosik, senior portfolio strategist at Ned Davis Research, predicts about the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.

He argues that GBTC price could not only double by mid-2023, but also narrow the extant discount gap with Bitcoin's spot price. 

“We recommend GBTC…as a way to play Bitcoin because it has a ‘potential NAV kicker rebate,’ which not only means it would go up if Bitcoin goes up, but also closing its current large 35% rebate on NAV,” Ned Davis Research said in a note to clients.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

Fir Tree fund sues Grayscale in effort to force changes to Bitcoin Trust

The New York-based hedge funds want Grayscale to cough up information about its flagship Bitcoin trust which it believes could reveal potential mismanagement.

Fir Tree Capital Management has filed a lawsuit against Grayscale Investments demanding information that could be used to force changes to the way it runs its flagship Bitcoin Trust. 

According to Bloomberg, a Dec. 6 complaint was filed against Grayscale at the Delaware Court of Chancery and seeks to have Grayscale lower its fees, start redemptions and hand over documents relating to its relationship with the Digital Currency Group.

The hedge fund also wants to stop Grayscale’s efforts in converting its $10.7 billion Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

In its complaint, the New York-based hedge fund said that around 850,000 retail investors had been “harmed by Grayscale’s shareholder-unfriendly actions.”

Shares in Grayscale’s Bitcoin trust currently trade at a near record 43% discount to the Net Asset Value (NAV) of its underlying digital asset, Bitcoin, according to data from Ycharts.

Much of the reason is due to the fact that GBTC holders have little to no means to exit their GBTC positions, except to sell them to another market participant as it does not offer a redemption program into fiat or crypto.

Fir Tree alleges Grayscale’s redemption bar, which dates back to 2014, is “self-imposed,” and claims Grayscale is refusing to redeem shares as that would cut into profits.

The firm also wants Grayscale to stop trying to convert the trust into an ETF which it has tried to do repeatedly over a number of years without success.

“That strategy will likely cost years of litigation, millions of dollars in legal fees, countless hours of lost management time, and goodwill with regulators,” Fir Tree’s lawyers said in the complaint. “All the while, Grayscale will continue to collect fees from the trust’s dwindling assets.”

However, Grayscale has maintained that the funds’ conversion into an ETF is what will allow it to create and redeem shares.

A Grayscale spokesperson told Cointelegraph it has always planned to convert the GBTC into an ETF when permitted by United States regulators.

“We remain 100% committed to converting GBTC to an ETF, as we strongly believe this is the best long-term product structure for GBTC and its shareholders.”

“At Grayscale, our mission is to help investors access the ever-evolving crypto ecosystem through familiar, secure, and transparent investment vehicles. We respect the views of our shareholders, and appreciate engaging directly with them on the details of our product structures and operating model.”

Related: Grayscale legal officer says Bitcoin ETF litigation could take two years

The gap between GBTC shares and Bitcoin increased to nearly 50% in the weeks after the collapse of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

Shares in GBTC have been gradually declining for almost a year since its peak position of $51.47 per share on Nov. 12, 2021, with the price per share standing at $8.76 at the time of writing, as per Yahoo Finance.

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas

GBTC Manager Insists the ‘Holdings of Grayscale’s Digital Asset Products Are Safe and Secure’

GBTC Manager Insists the ‘Holdings of Grayscale’s Digital Asset Products Are Safe and Secure’On Nov. 18, 2022, at 5:47 p.m. (ET), Grayscale Investments’ official Twitter account shared information on the safety and security associated with Grayscale’s digital asset products. The update from Grayscale follows the recent FTX collapse that has shaken crypto investors, and Digital Currency Group’s (DCG) Genesis pausing the firm’s lending unit in terms of withdrawals […]

LastPass threat actor steals $5.4M from victims just a week before Xmas