Grayscale sets sights on institutional DeFi fund

Published at: July 19, 2021

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of digital asset management giant Grayscale, has announced a new investment vehicle for the firm targeted at decentralized finance (DeFi) assets.

Sonnenshein announced Grayscale’s planned DeFi Fund and index during an appearance on CNBC’s Squawk Box. Detailing the purpose of the new product, the Grayscale CEO said the fund would offer exposure to DeFi assets, such as Uniswap (UNI) and Aave, for its institutional clients.

According to the Grayscale chief, the decision to create a DeFi fund, the firm’s 15th crypto investment product, was due to the growing interest in popular crypto assets in the decentralized finance space.

With institutional interest in crypto showing signs of diversification away from only Bitcoin (BTC), both Ether (ETH) and DeFi assets are reportedly beginning to come up in the conversation. Back in April, Cointelegraph reported that DeFi money markets were increasingly becoming more appealing to institutional investors.

With more regulated entities entering the DeFi space comes increased talk of regulations for the niche crypto market sector. Some industry stakeholders even say greater regulatory clarity is required for the DeFi space to interact with real-world assets.

Commenting on other institutional investment possibilities for crypto, Sonnenshein stated that a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval in the United States will eventually happen. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, the Grayscale CEO remarked that the market was a “couple of points of maturation” away from seeing an approved ETF.

Related: Grayscale ‘100% committed’ to turning GBTC into Bitcoin ETF — CEO

Indeed, Grayscale is reportedly working with BNY Mellon toward converting its Bitcoin Trust into a Bitcoin ETF. According to Sonnenshein, the crypto asset manager is 100% committed to turning its flagship GBTC product into a Bitcoin ETF.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has yet to approve any Bitcoin ETF in the country. Earlier in July, the SEC pushed back its decision on Wisdom Tree’s Bitcoin ETF application.

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