DCG, Facing Competition From Bitcoin ETFs, Plans to Buy More Grayscale Bitcoin Trust

Digital Currency Group (CoinDesk’s parent company) is planning to hoover up up to a billion dollars worth of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), the company announced Wednesday.

• With subsidiary Grayscale’s flagship product facing sudden competition for brokerage accounts’ bitcoin dollars, the crypto conglomerate increased its GBTC buy range by $250 million. It said it has bought $388 million shares of GBTC so far.

• The authorization comes as bitcoin-curious mainstream investors look beyond Grayscale for crypto exposure. On Tuesday, ProShares, a Wall Street fund shop, launched the first bitcoin-linked exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S. It closed the day with $570 million in assets.

• GBTC, meanwhile, ended Tuesday at a 16.55% discount relative to the price of bitcoin, after that figure hit a five-month low of 20.5% on Monday. It has its own plans to become an ETF, a conversion unlikely to happen any time soon.