Grayscale Investments Creates Smart Contract Fund for Solana, Avalanche, Polygon, Cardano

By Kate Irwin

Cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale is expanding its line of investment funds to include non-Ethereum smart contract tokens.

The Grayscale Smart Contract Platform ex Ethereum fund, or GSCPxE for short, allows investors to opt-in to some of the largest smart contract networks and Ethereum sidechains. The fund is composed of the altcoins Cardano, Solana, Avalanche, Polkadot, Polygon, Algorand, and Stellar.

Cardano and Solana each make up just over 24% of the fund, while Avalanche and Polkadot account for about 16% each. About 10% of the fund is allocated to Polygon, and Algorand and Stellar make up about 4% each.

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said the fund was created because he believes investors want “diversified exposure” across the cryptocurrency market.

“Smart contract technology is critical to the growth of the digital economy, but it’s still too early to know which platform will win,” Sonnenshein said in a statement. With the new fund, investors won’t have to choose.

The cryptocurrencies included in GSCPxE were chosen based on the Coindesk Smart Contract Platform Select Ex ETH index, which measures altcoin performance based on market cap and other metrics. CoinDesk and Grayscale are both owned by Digital Currency Group, a crypto-focused VC firm that's invested in companies like BitPay, Chainalysis, and Coinbase.

Grayscale already offers trusts focused around investing in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, ZCash, or even the blockchain gaming platform Decentraland. 

While its Bitcoin trust has seen record-breaking discounts, the firm has continued to expand its offerings. Last month, Grayscale launched its Future of Finance ETF, which consists of crypto-minded companies like Coinbase, PayPal, and Robinhood.

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