Grayscale looking to add 13 additional assets to its portfolio

Leading crypto-asset manager Grayscale Investments is planning on extending its portfolio to include thirteen new assets.

The assets under consideration by Grayscale include —

1inch (1INCH), Bancor (BNT), Curve (CRV), Internet Computer (ICP), Kava (KAVA), Kyber Network (KNC), Loopring (LRC), NEAR (NEAR), Polygon (MATIC), Ren (REN), Solana (SOL), Universal Market Access (UMA), and 0x (ZRX).

The new additions could bring the total assets owned by Grayscale to 28, following their first round of investments and the inception of trusts for assets including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Chainlink (LINK).

Grayscale clarified that not all of the thirteen assets under consideration will be invested in and transformed into a trust. They mentioned that the process is “complex and multifaceted”, requires “significant review and consideration” and is subject to custody arrangements and regulatory considerations.

Grayscale existing trusts remain a market-leading digital-asset investment product globally for private investors looking to expand their portfolio into cryptocurrencies. Their trusts allow investors to trade shares in trusts holding large pools of an asset. GBTC is traded publicly on the OTCQX, with each share representing 0.000941364 BTC. 

Their leading product, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GTBC), is the largest and most liquid Bitcoin fund available today on the market. The GBTC trust contains 654.6k Bitcoin, has a total of $24.1b in Assets Under Management (AUM) and boasts a 285% return in the past 12 months. Including GBTC, Grayscale has $32.9 billion in AUM as of June 18, 2021.

In April, Grayscale reiterated their interest in converting GBTC into an Exchange-traded fund (ETF), which means it can be traded and exchanged on stock exchanges. The trust is already one of only two global crypto funds that report to the SEC, with the other being the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which has over $7b in AUM.

The parent company of Grayscale, Digital Currency Group (DCG), announced on June 21st that they will purchase up to a total of $50 million worth of shares in the ETHE trust. DCG remains a prominent and leading investor in the cryptocurrency industry, backing more than 175 blockchain-related companies in over 35 countries such as Coinbase and Ripple alongside owning and operating Luno and CoinDesk.

Following recent volatility in both crypto and stock markets, the CEO of DCG, Barry Silbert, tweeted that it’s “Going to be a dicey week” and when asked recently about whether cryptos are overpriced generally, he stated that “99% are overpriced”. 

His comments reflect the overall sentiment in the market, which has seen negative price action following a Chinese crackdown on mining operations and proposed regulations being introduced.

Although previous months have shown unexpected deviations in Bitcoin and overall market prices, The CEO of Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein seemed to confirm that Grayscale continues its investments in digital assets and are taking advantage of the cheaper prices and supposed “weak hands” in the overall market.

The GBTC trust currently has no recent inflows due to the trust being closed to private investors. However, other trusts remain open, meaning assets may be being purchased by Grayscale to fulfil the increasing interest in various digital assets.