SEC Approves Grayscale’s Crypto Fund as ETF
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted approval for Grayscale Investments to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) based on its Digital Large Cap Fund.
Key Details:
- The approved ETF, designed to trade on NYSE Arca, will track the performance of the top five largest-cap digital assets.
- Bitcoin and Ethereum constitute the largest portion, accounting for approximately 90% of the fund’s assets.
- Further allocations are set for Ethereum, Solana, XRP, and Cardano.
- This approval represents a significant step for the asset manager, which previously converted similar Bitcoin and Ethereum funds to ETF structure.
- Analysts expect a wave of new crypto-related ETF approvals later this year.
According to the SEC filing, the GDLC ETF aims to provide investors exposure to the performance of five of the largest and most liquid digital assets. Bitcoin makes up more than 80% of the fund, with Ethereum representing about 11%. Smaller allocations are set for Solana (2.8%), XRP (4.8%) and Cardano (0.8%).
ETF analysts anticipate further approvals later this year. Bloomberg senior ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipated “a wave of new ETFs” in the second half of 2025.
The approval came despite the SEC’s decade-long history of rejecting spot Bitcoin ETF applications. Notably, the regulator acted relatively quickly and beat a deadline, a procedural shift after previous rejections at the last minute.
While this approval doesn’t fully grant investors direct access to Bitcoin via an ETF, analysts point to this development as a crucial progression and contributing factor to the eventual approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
GDLC offers investors advantages over the fund’s closed-end fund predecessor, such as avoiding significant discounts or premiums typically seen relative to the fund’s net asset value.
The regulatory greenlight follows a legal victory for Grayscale in 2023, which may have influenced the SEC’s decision-making process.
