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Grayscale has launched two new investment trusts, exposing accredited investors to the Bitcoin layer-2 Stacks and Near Protocol. These trusts are part of the company’s strategy to expand its crypto offerings and eventually uplist them to ETFs.
Grayscale’s new trusts reflect the company’s vision of expanding access to innovative blockchain technologies. By initially targeting accredited investors, the asset manager believes it can manage risks and ensure regulatory compliance.
Grayscale Wants to Help the Crypto Industry Grow
These new trusts join Grayscale’s extensive lineup, which includes trusts for cryptocurrencies like Solana, Chainlink, and Decentraland. Head of Product and Research, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, emphasized their commitment to launching new products that allow investors to access emerging parts of the crypto ecosystem.
With continued demand for diversified crypto asset exposure, Grayscale remains committed to launching new products that enable investors to access emerging and evolving parts of the crypto ecosystem.
Sharif-Askary
The introduction of these trusts comes when institutional demand for crypto assets is on the rise. Investors are looking for diversified exposure to the crypto market, and Grayscale strives to meet this demand. The company’s ability to identify and launch products that resonate with market trends and investor interests is key to its continued success.
Grayscale Picks Stacks and Near
Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 network that adds smart contract functionality to Bitcoin. This enables decentralized finance (DeFi) applications to be developed on the Bitcoin network. The recent Nakamoto upgrade and the rising popularity of Bitcoin protocols like Ordinals and Runes have increased interest in Stacks. Stacks’ Investor Relations Lead, Kyle Ellicott, noted the growing demand from institutions. In his words:
Within the Stacks ecosystem, we’re witnessing a robust increase in demand from institutions, overall. The greater Bitcoin ecosystem is seeing similar demand as that wide gap continues to lessen around unlocking Bitcoin liquidity and making it [more] usable.
Near Protocol is another blockchain platform designed to provide scalable and user-friendly applications. By offering trusts for Stacks and Near Protocol, Grayscale is also improving its reputation as a leading crypto asset manager.
Issuers Await SEC Approval on ETF
At the moment, Grayscale is waiting for the SEC’s decision on the spot Ethereum ETF it applied for, alongside many other companies. Reportedly, the asset manager’s private placements are the first step in the product lifecycle. It plans to eventually uplist these products as ETFs.
So far, the Bitcoin Trust is the only one that has achieved ETF status. In January, it was approved among applications for other spot Bitcoin ETFs. Due to some unforeseen change in strategy, it is generally expected that the SEC will approve the Ethereum ETFs, too. The legal deadline for a decision is only two hours away.
Cryptopolitan reporting by Jai Hamid