Surge in Adoption: Grayscale Holds Over Half a Million Bitcoin

Grayscale Investment, the market’s  leading cryptocurrency asset manager, has cracked a new level and is now holding more than 500,000 Bitcoin in its Bitcoin Trust.

According to a post released by the investment firm, Grayscale now holds more than $8.35 billion USD worth of Bitcoin in its fund. This, taking the Bitcoin in circulation at the moment, represents nearly 3% of all Bitcoin currently (a figure which might actually be higher if we consider the estimated 3.7 million Bitcoin which has been lost).

Grayscale’s aggressive buy into cryptocurrency

Institutional investors had been dipping their toes into the cryptocurrency scene before this year, but it seems Grayscale took a dive into the deepend in 2020. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has accumulated nearly 50% of its entire holdings in the past six months only; marking a massive leap into the industry. Despite a stall earlier this year, the current aggressive buying of Bitcoin notes a possible exponential increased interest of insitutional investment.

Investors opting to trade, buy, or hold through a cryptocurrency firm like Grayscale tend to pay a premium for security and regulation. With safety as a major appeal given the industry’s typically unreguated nature, institutional investors are often willing to pay the premium, which at Grayscale is almsot at 20% on top of the annual 2% fee.

But it’s not only Bitcoin purchases

The firm has also been investing in the leading cryptocurrency altcoins too. Revving up the intake, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust currently holds approximately $1.175 billion worth of Ether, which marks 2.24% of the entire network’s cap. The $9.9 million total value managed by the fund is made up of eight different digital assets, including Litecoin, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash and ZCash. However, Bitcoin makes up the fairest share.