Crypto analytics platform Arkham Intelligence claims to have found on-chain addresses associated with the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. This revelation comes amidst the ongoing battle between asset management firm Grayscale and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over converting the Bitcoin Trust into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, with the ticker GBTC, is an investment product that offers investors exposure to Bitcoin without having to purchase or hold the cryptocurrency directly. In the wake of its recent victory against the SEC, the asset manager is looking – and might be able – to transform its GBTC product into a spot ETF.
On Wednesday, the 6th of September, Bitcoinist reported that Grayscale’s legal counsel wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission, urging the regulatory body to reconsider its stance on the conversion of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an exchange-traded fund following the latest court decision.
Each Wallet Holds Less Than 1,000 BTC, Arkham Says
In a series of posts on the X (formerly Twitter) platform, Arkham Intelligence revealed that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust holdings are spread across over 1,750 wallet addresses. Each address reportedly holds less than 1,000 BTC (worth around $25.7 million).
Although Arkham did not provide a full list of the GBTC-linked addresses, it labeled some wallets in the provided transaction history. The platform’s data dashboard also shows that the asset management firm holds 627,779 BTC (worth over $16 billion).
It is worth noting that this balance aligns with the amount claimed on Grayscale’s website, meaning that the firm keeps sufficient Bitcoin to fulfill withdrawals – should the need arise. Additionally, the revealed holdings place Grayscale Bitcoin Trust as the second-largest Bitcoin entity in the world.
While Grayscale publicly reports the company’s balances, it has always refused to reveal the on-chain addresses of its Bitcoin Trust. However, it seems that Arkham’s discovery might end long-term speculations about the security status of the crypto asset manager.
What Other Crypto Is Grayscale Stashing?
Earlier in September, Arkham disclosed that the Grayscale Ethereum Trust is the second-largest ETH entity in the world, with its holdings spread across over 500 addresses. According to the platform’s data dashboard, Grayscale holds 3.026 million ETH valued at about $4.95 billion.
Related Reading: BREAKING: ARK Invest Files For First Ethereum Spot ETF
Besides the two largest cryptocurrencies in the market, the asset management firm appears also to be stockpiling other crypto tokens, including Chainlink (LINK), Polygon (MATIC), Uniswap (UNI), Avalanche (AVAX), Synthetix (SNX), and Curve (CRV).
Notably, LINK comes after Ethereum and Bitcoin in Grayscale’s most valuable crypto holdings list. The company owns about 301,488 LINK tokens valued at $1.9 million at the current market price.