Grayscale Sees 900% Inbound As Wall Street Flows To Bitcoin

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Grayscale saw its assets under management skyrocket as Wall Street used it as a proxy to invest in bitcoin.

The New York-based investment firm started last year with $ 2 billion in assets and ended with more than $ 20.2 billion. The 900% increase was driven by demand from institutional investors such as hedge funds, endowments and pension funds, the company said in a quarterly report Thursday.

Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust has become a popular, publicly traded way for investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrency without owning the coins themselves. Investment proceeds grew from $ 1.8 billion to $ 17.5 billion in assets year over year.

“We have seen a significant acceleration in institutional participation,” Michael Sonnenshein, who recently took over as CEO of Grayscale Investments, told CNBC in a telephone interview. “There is no longer any business risk in investing in the digital currency asset class – there is probably more business risk in not paying…

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