FTX estate sells majority of GBTC holdings: Reports

The FTX estate reportedly offloaded the majority of its shares in the recently converted Grayscale bitcoin ETF.

Both Bloomberg and CoinDesk reported on the sale, citing sources familiar. 

Marex Capital sold a majority of the 22 million shares held by FTX, according to Bloomberg. Court documents filed last year showed that FTX owned 22.28 million shares.

The sale, with the shares trading for around $38, fetched roughly $600 million, the report said.

“Broadly speaking, large capital markets ETFs are used in a variety of investing strategies, and we anticipate GBTC’s diverse shareholder base will continue to deploy strategies that impact inflows and outflows,” John Hoffman, managing director of sales & distribution at Grayscale, said in a statement to Blockworks.  

Nearly two weeks ago, Grayscale’s fund converted to a bitcoin ETF. This followed the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authorization for nearly a dozen firms to launch spot bitcoin ETFs for the first time.

Read more: As bitcoin ETFs continue fight for assets, here’s where they all stand

GBTC initially launched in 2013 and has roughly $23 billion in assets under management due to its conversion. Other funds, such as BlackRock’s new spot bitcoin ETFs, are well under that figure due to the recent launches. 

The reports from both Bloomberg and CoinDesk would account for nearly a billion in outflows from GBTC in the last week. In total, Grayscale’s fund has seen $2.2 billion of net outflows.

As Blockworks previously reported, CoinShares data shows that the outflows have overshadowed some large inflows raked in by rivals BlackRock and Fidelity Investments. The firms have seen crypto-related inflows of $931 million and $860 million, respectively, according to the data.

Both funds have since hit $1 billion in assets.

FTX received court approval last November to sell assets, including shares of Grayscale’s fund. 

“The Debtors are authorized, but not directed, to execute sales of the Trust Assets, in their reasonable business judgment,” a court document approving the sales said at the time.

Updated Jan. 22, 2024 at 4:17 pm ET: Added quote from Grayscale.

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