Grayscale Seeks to Convert Fund With Solana, XRP and Avalanche Into ETF

Grayscale Investments wants to convert its current Digital Large Cap Fund—which includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), XRP, and Avalanche (AVAX)—into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The New York Stock Exchange made the request to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on behalf of Grayscale, filing the 19b-4 form requesting permission to convert the fund. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

Grayscale previously converted its Bitcoin Trust and Ethereum Trust into spot ETFs earlier this year following SEC approval of each respective product in the U.S.

The products once acted like closed-end funds, making it harder for investors to redeem shares. But following their conversion into the popular ETF investment vehicles, clients have fast been cashing out. 

Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) gives investors exposure to major cryptocurrencies. BTC has the largest weighting in the fund, followed by ETH, SOL, XRP, and AVAX. All assets in the fund make up the 20 biggest digital coins by market cap. 

Grayscale told Decrypt in a statement: “Today, Grayscale filed to uplist Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund as a diversified multi-crypto asset ETP on NYSE Arca. The fund is currently trading under ticker: GDLC, and continues to meet growing demand by providing diversified exposure to crypto through a portfolio of market-leading digital assets. This filing reflects Grayscale’s steadfast commitment to making the crypto asset class more accessible for all investors.” 

ETFs promise investors easy exposure to assets such as gold, crypto, or foreign currencies: An asset manager holds the investment in question and shares which track its price can be bought via brokerage accounts. 

Today’s request comes after the SEC has repeatedly alleged that Solana is an unregistered security, hitting a number of crypto companies with lawsuits for selling the asset. The SEC was initially reluctant to give the green light to Ethereum ETFs and it previously wasn’t clear if the regulator classified the asset as a security or commodity. The Commission has since relented on Ethereum and allowed ETH ETFs to begin trading in late May.

Grayscale helped pave the way for the SEC approval of crypto ETFs this year after a judge sided with the firm in a lawsuit, agreeing with it that Wall Street’s biggest regulator lacked a coherent explanation for denying the proposed conversion of its Bitcoin Trust to an ETF.

Editor's note: This story was updated after publication to include additional details and a statement from Grayscale.