Grayscale Investments is a cryptocurrency investment firm based in New York City founded in 2013 by the Digital Currency Group.^[1] The firm provides investment exposure to the developing digital currency asset class. Around early August 2020, they launched one of the biggest advertising campaigns within the cryptocurrency space, airing thirty-second ads on various major networks.^[3] As of mid-November, 2020, Grayscale has over $10.4 billion in assets under management.^[2]

Grayscale is a subsidiary of CoinDesk's parent company Digital Currency Group.^[11]

Background

In January 2019, Grayscale launched "Stellar Lumens Trust," the ninth such investment trust that Grayscale offers. The XLM trust joins those for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum Classic, Horizen, Litecoin, XRP, and Zcash.

According to the company's research published on December 3, 2018, the total Bitcoin holdings for Grayscale as of December was 203,000 Bitcoins and when compared to the 17.4 million BTCs in circulation it controls over 1.16% of the total Bitcoins.

As of September 30th, 2020, Grayscale holds over $5.9 billion in assets under its management platform.^[4]

On October 14, 2020, Grayscale announced its best quarter to date, with over $1 billion raised. They have raised a total of $2.4 billion since the beginning of the year.^[5]

Investment Products

With over $5.9 billion in assets under Grayscale's management, the company has a variety of investment products.

Single Asset

• Grayscale Bitcoin Trust
• Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust
• Grayscale Ethereum Trust
• Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust
• Grayscale Horizen Trust
• Grayscale Litcoin Trust
• Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust
• Grayscale XRP Trust
• Grayscale Zcash Trust

Diversified Products

• Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund

Advertising

To legitimize the cryptocurrency space to the masses, Grayscale launched one of the industry's most prominent advertising campaigns. The ad campaign consists of commercials airing on CNBC, MSNBC, FOX, and Fox Business within the US. The company's first ad began to air on August 10, 2020.^[6] The thirty-second commercial shows how currency has evolved throughout the thousands of years that currency has existed, starting with 'shells and metals to eventually paper money. The commercial makes the point that it is time for digital currency to step in, and begin using alternatives to paper money.^[7] The commercial is close by listening to the firm's nine cryptocurrencies that it supports, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Stellar, Ethereum Classic, Zcash, and Horizen.^[8]

GBTC Lawsuit

Grayscale Bitcoin trust, under the ticker GBTC, is the world's biggest publicly traded bitcoin fund.

On June 29, 2022, senior Legal Strategist, former U.S. Solicitor General, and partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson, Donald B. Verrilli, Jr., filed a petition for review with the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on behalf of Grayscale, challenging the decision by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to deny conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) (OTCQX: GBTC) to a spot Bitcoin ETF.

The SEC rejected Grayscale's application, citing concerns about market manipulation, the role of Tether in the broader bitcoin ecosystem, and the lack of a surveillance-sharing agreement between a "regulated market of significant size" and a regulated exchange, echoing concerns the regulator has expressed for years in rejecting other spot bitcoin ETF applications.^[9][10]