Grayscale Investments, the great American cryptocurrency asset manager, leading a new fund and index decentralized finance (DeFi) launch. The crypto company announced this on July 19:
Today we’re unveiling Grayscale DeFi Fund, our second diversified investment product, which tracks the @CoinDesk #DeFi Index. Accredited Investors are now able to gain exposure to a selection of industry-leading DeFi protocols through the Fund. Learn more: https://t.co/i0hm9vrklB pic.twitter.com/QASEp9SpfK
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 19, 2021
These are the Grayscale DeFi Fund and the Coindesk DeFi Index. Grayscale and Coindesk are both part of parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG). The fund gives institutional investors the opportunity to invest in a select group of DeFi protocols that track the Coindesk DeFi index.
The Coindesk index consists of the largest DeFi protocols on the market, which are: uniswap (UNI), aave (AAVE), compound (COMP), curve (CRV), maker (MKR), sushi (SUSHI), synthetix (SNX) , yearn finance (YFI), uma (UMA) and bancor (BNT).
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in a statement that there is widespread interest in DeFi assets among existing customers of the company. So says the CEO in an interview with CNBC’s Squawkbox on July 19. The Grayscale DeFi Fund is Grayscale’s fifteenth investment product.
“A #bitcoin ETF here in the US is really a matter of when, not a matter of if,” @Grayscale‘s @Sonnenshein. “We’re looking for a couple of different points of maturation in the underlying market. That’s the final stages of what regulators need to approve those types of products.” pic.twitter.com/GsH0fdm0Xf
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) July 19, 2021
In related news, Sonnenshein says Grayscale is still “100% committed” to the company’s bitcoin (BTC) fund, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), a so-called exchange-traded fund (ETF). This is most likely related to the continued negative premium price of the product.
Such a bitcoin ETF could attract new investors, but the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved any applications. There are currently no fewer than 13 different filings with the SEC on the table. According to Sonnenshein, it’s only “really a matter of when, not a matter of if” until the SEC approves one. Grayscale recently announced partnering with BNY Mellon, the largest custodian in the world, to support Grayscale’s ETF.
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