BlockFi Boosted Grayscale Bitcoin Trust Holdings by 11.9M Shares, Now Holds $1.7B GBTC

The disclosure comes as BlockFi prepares to launch a competitor bitcoin trust product.

Feb 12, 2021, 3:34 PM

Updated Aug 19, 2021, 7:15 AM

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Crypto lender BlockFi on Friday revealed it holds $1.7 billion in shares of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, or 5.66% of the market-leading institutional bitcoin investment vehicle.

The 36.1 million GBTC shares now held by BlockFi represents an 11.9 million increase from its previous holdings of 24.2 million shares, first disclosed last October.
BlockFi CEO Zachary Prince previously told CoinDesk the GBTC holdings “add value” to the “marketplace for liquid and illiquid” shares. “There are lending markets related to GBTC,” he said at the time.
BlockFi's ongoing stake in GBTC is particularly notable due to BlockFi's intentions to launch a bitcoin trust product that directly competes for institutional dollars that might otherwise flow into GBTC.
Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk parent company Digital Currency Group.

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Danny Nelson

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