The Grayscale Litecoin Trust is trading at a premium of 753%, according to data produced by Arcane Research, since its Monday launch. The Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust, which launched at the same time, is trading at a premium of 351%.
The Grayscale Litecoin Trust became publicly traded this Tuesday and has traded with a wild premium since the launch.
Currently, the premium of LTCN is at a whooping 753%.
High retail demand for LTC exposure generates lucrative returns for the early investors of the trust. pic.twitter.com/Kcq8ZI6qz8
The Trusts, which opened in April 2018, solicited accredited investors (i.e. very rich), who so far have forked up $29.2 million for the Bitcoin Cash Trust and $19.5 million for the Litecoin Trust. Grayscales handles the paperwork and security.
Then, on Monday, Grayscale made these trusts publicly tradable. This meant that the underlying assets in the trusts would be traded like stocks. This allows buyers to invest in cryptocurrencycryptocurrency, in this case Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, without actually having to go through the trouble of purchasing the actual coins from an exchange and holding those funds themselves.
But why would the shares trade at a premium if the shares represent the underlying cryptocurrency?
According to Arcane Research, one of the main reasons is that trading these funds is the only way American retail investors (i.e. regular Joe Schmoes) can invest in cryptocurrencies through their 401Ks.
So, the main drivers of the Grayscale premiums are:
1. Investors buying directly into the trust seek compensation for the lockup period.
2. High retail demand for crypto exposure through 401k savings, with few other options.
The high premiums for the Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash Trusts are shared with other cryptocurrencies. Currently, the Ethereum Trust is trading at a 93% premium, and in early June traded at a 804% premium, according to Arcane. The Bitcoin Trust is currently trading for a 23% premium, it found.
“The premiums show that the public demand for crypto exposure is high, and that the market is ripe for an ETF,” said Arcane.
The SEC has rejected the Bitcoin ETF proposal from Bitwise Asset Management, snuffing out the last chance for the debut of a Bitcoin ETF at an exchange in 2019.
After refusing several applications over the years, the SEC outlined its concerns regarding Bitcoin ETFs in a January letter last year. In response, Bitwise produced extensive research and made presentations to SEC staff to convince them about the readiness of crypto markets for an ETF.
But the federal agency’s order rejecting the filing...
An ETF, or exchange-traded fund, is a financial product that lets people buy shares in indexes that track baskets of assets. The SEC has several times rejected proposals for a Bitcoin ETF on the grounds that the cryptocrypto and BitcoinBitcoin market is still rife with manipulation.
“There are, in fact, ways to work with regulators on the asset class within existing frameworks, but they’re just not ready to approve an ETF yet,” Grayscale’s managing director, Michael Sonnenshein said in an interview last month.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
New York Mayor Eric Adams announced the city’s first official crypto summit on Monday, while reaffirming his goal to make New York “the crypto capital of the globe.”
New York will host a major crypto summit on May 20, just two months after former U.S. President Donald Trump held a similar event at the White House.
At a press conference on Monday, Mayor Eric Adams promoted the city’s growing blockchain sector, joined by Figure Firm co-founder June Ou and Traction and Scale CEO Richard Hecker.
Ada...
The biggest holders of President Trump’s meme coin, who qualified for access to a private reception and dinner with the U.S. leader, held an average of nearly $4.8 million worth of TRUMP apiece to earn their spots via an official leaderboard ranking.
Placements were calculated using a time-weighted average of TRUMP holdings between April 23 and May 12, providing a score that was ultimately used to rank registered users. The top 25 finishers were granted “VIP” status, with extra benefits, while a...
Shares of Coinbase jumped in after-hours trading after the S&P 500 announced that the cryptocurrency exchange's stock will begin trading on its index on Monday, May 19.
COIN, which trades on the Nasdaq, rose 8% following the news, currently sitting at an after-hours price of $225 per share, as of this writing. The stock already rose nearly 4% during the trading day to finish at $207.22.
Coinbase will replace Discover Financial Services (DFS) on the S&P 500, with the index noting that financial s...