Grayscale Investments is exploring options to return a portion of capital of its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)if the Securities and Exchange Commission refuses to approve its spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund. One option is to offer tender for 20% of outstanding GBTC shares, which are currently trading at a 49% discount to net asset value. Grayscale has been knocked back multiple times in its mission to convert its bitcoin trust into an ETF, with the SEC citing a lack of regulatory oversight in a brief earlier this month. Grayscale is owned by the Digital Currency Group and is a sister company of CoinDesk.
CoinDesk
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will no longer contest extradition to the U.S. from the Bahamas. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas following a U.S. request Dec. 12, after the crypto exchange’s Nov. 11 bankruptcy filing. He faces charges from the Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, including allegations that he misused customer funds and misled investors. After being refused bail, Bankman-Fried faced being held at the jail until an extradition hearing on Feb. 8 in conditions known to be dangerous and overcrowded.
Former BitMEX CEO Alexander Hoeptner has sued the cryptocurrency derivatives platform for $3.4 million for breach of contract and wrongful termination. Hoeptner joined the Seychelles-registered exchange in January 2021 at a time when top officers at HDR Global Trading Limited, the owner and operator of BitMEX, were embroiled in a lawsuit that accused the founders of facilitating unregistered trading. It was previously reported that Hoeptner left the company in October 2022, without further details.
Since 2013, Grayscale has been an industry leader in offering investors secure and regulated access to crypto.
Grayscale’s suite of publicly-traded products helps investors access crypto while removing the operational burdens of buying, storing, and safeguarding cryptocurrencies directly. Many of Grayscale’s products are SEC-reporting, which means adhering to standard reporting practices and offering heightened disclosures to provide investors with more information when making investment decisions. Grayscale’s products are further supported by a network of best-in-class service providers and partners. Investors can access our products directly via a ticker symbol in certain investment and retirement accounts, allowing them to diversify their portfolios into crypto with ease.
Investing involves risks and the possible loss of principal. Visit grayscale.com for more information.
Market Insight: Options Market Has Become More ‘Interdealer’ Since FTX’s Blowup
(Paradigm)
The collapse of Sam-Bankman Fried’s digital assets exchange, FTX, has had industry-wide ramifications, one of them being market makers increasing their share of crypto options trading volumes.
As of Friday, the notional value of the month-to-date interdealer flow on the institutional-grade, over-the-counter (OTC) communications platform Paradigm was $633 million, or 43.5% of the total crypto options trading volume of $1,455 million. That’s the highest since at least January this year.
“More buy-side takers (hedge funds/family offices/HNW) are sitting on the sidelines, and a higher proportion of Paradigm volumes is occurring between market makers,” Paradigm tweeted, adding that the options market feels more “interdealer” than before FTX’s meltdown.
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