Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX has sold nearly $1 billion worth of shares in Grayscale's GTBC fund since the company's vehicle recently began trading as a bitcoin ETF, according to CoinDesk, which cited “private data” and anonymous sources.
Grayscale's spot Bitcoin ETF led competing funds in terms of trading volume, with most of it consisting of outflows. As of Friday, Grayscale's fund accounted for about 54% of trading volume since the new cryptocurrency-based ETFs began trading earlier this month, according to Yahoo Finance data compiled by The Block.
Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Analyst Eric Balchunas Published data Over the weekend it showed that the Grayscale fund has lost $2.8 billion since trading began.
FTX's sale of shares in Grayscale's ETF is part of the cryptocurrency exchange's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, according to CoinDesk. The bankruptcy company also said in its filing that it sold all 22 million shares held by FTX.
FTX's creditors hope to recoup losses
At the end of November, the Delaware Bankruptcy Court said that FTX Trading and its debtors could begin selling its shares in Grayscale. FTX owned about 22 million shares of Grayscale's leading Bitcoin fund, worth $597 million at the time.
FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. The exchange's creditors, including retail clients, hope to recover their losses by selling assets such as Grayscale shares.
Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin fell from around $49,000, when bitcoin ETFs began trading, to less than $41,000 as of 10:58 a.m. ET, according to The Block's price page.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that provides news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is the majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures is investing in other companies in the cryptocurrency space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is a core program of Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to work independently to provide objective, influential and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Below are our current financial disclosures.
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not provided or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
About the author
RT Watson is a senior reporter at The Block who covers a wide range of topics including US-based companies, blockchain gaming, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). He previously covered entertainment for The Wall Street Journal, where he wrote about Disney, Netflix, and Warner Bros. and the Creator Economy focusing primarily on technological disruption across media. Before that, he covered corporate, economic and political news in Brazil while at Bloomberg. RT has interviewed a variety of figures including CEOs, media moguls, top influencers, politicians, blue-collar workers, drug dealers and convicted criminals. He holds a master's degree in digital sociology.
