Digital Currency Group Announces $250M Share Buyback from Crypto Trusts

Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Grayscale Investments, has announced a new share buyback program projected to be worth $250 million. 

As revealed by the company, the buyback program will feature a wide range of the company’s trust products with the first buyback covering up to $50 million in total for shares of Grayscale Litecoin Trust ($30 million), Grayscale Horizen Trust, and Grayscale Zcash Trust. 

According to Grayscale, as much as $200 million will also be invested in buyback programs for its other six publicly quoted Grayscale products. These include the Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, Grayscale Large Cap Fund, Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust, Grayscale Ethereum Trust, and Grayscale Stellar Lumen Trust.

While the timeline for the share buyback is yet unknown, the company said the move will complement the earlier approvals it has received to purchase shares of GBTC and ETCG, of which DCG respectively has $301.3 million and $4.5 million in authorized share repurchases remaining. The company said the share buyback will be carried out using cash on hand as the company’s management will decide based on its discretion.

The decision to buy back the six core products is perhaps influenced by the valuation plunge of the premium of these products as showcased from the data from otcnode. While the negative premium is all-encompassing, the Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust is recording the worst plunge at -59.46% at the time of writing.

Amidst the business modifications, Grayscale has considered thus far the plan to convert the Bitcoin Trust into a full-fledged spot Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) product. While the application has been filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), no feedback has been received yet. 

That the SEC continues to reject other competitors’ applications for a spot Bitcoin ETF has casted doubts on the chances of Grayscale succeeding, however, time is the main determining factor to get the needed closure in relation to the company’s ambition in attracting institutional investors.

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