Bitcoin Investment Trust Creator Adding $10 Million in New Investments Every Week
The entrance of actual institutional investors into the crypto industry puts the asset class in a stronger place than when prices were at an all-time high. | Source: Shutterstock
Grayscale Investments, the fund provider behind the Bitcoin Investment Trust (OTC: GBTC), said that it is onboarding nearly $10 million in new investments every week, and the majority of that capital is coming from institutional investors.
The New York-based firm, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Digital Currency Group, made the announcement in its newly-released Digital Asset Investment Report , which details the investment company’s performance over the first half of 2018.
According to the report, investors have invested $248.39 million in Grayscale products since the beginning of the year, even as the cryptocurrency market experienced a ~75 percent decline from the all-time high it set in early January. That equates to an average weekly investment of $9.55 million.
Perhaps even more notable is that 56 percent of that capital — $5.3 million per week and $139 million since Jan. 1 — is coming from institutional investors, who as a group have long been hesitant to make meaningful investments in the nascent cryptocurrency space.
That data point also stands in marked contrast to recent comments from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who claimed that — despite the fact that the firm had created a cryptocurrency working group — institutional investors have little-to-no interest in the asset class.
Accredited investors are the next largest investor group, with 20 percent of new investments coming from wealthy retail buyers. Retirement accounts account for another 16 percent, as accredited and retail investors alike can use brokerage services to purchase select Grayscale products and hold them in tax-advantaged accounts. The remaining 8 percent in capital is coming from family offices, the firm said.
The most popular Grayscale product remains the Bitcoin Investment Trust, which the firm launched in 2015 and was the first of its offerings to be listed on an over-the-counter (OTC) marketplace. Investors are pouring a little more than $6 million into GBTC on a weekly basis, while the firm’s remaining funds are collectively attracting about $3.5 million every week.
Those other funds include the Ethereum Classic Investment Trust (OTC: ETCG), which was recently listed on OTC Markets, as well as the Digital Large Cap Fund, the firm’s first index product. Grayscale has also recently launched individual investment funds for zcash, ethereum, bitcoin cash, litecoin, and XRP.
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