Legacy US bank increases BTC exposure via Grayscale BTC Trust
2 min readA division of Chicago’s First Midwest Bank increased its BTC exposure last month, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed.
BTC institutional watch:
In an SEC filing today, First Midwest Bank Trust Division, based in Joliet, Illinois, reported holding 29,498 shares of Grayscale BTC Trust as of June 30.
Previously, it reported 7,693 shares at the end of March.
Filing:https://t.co/Lq82pCaLFd
— MacroScope (@MacroScope17) July 8, 2021
The bank, founded 1933, now holds over 27 BTC via the Grayscale BTC Trust (GBTC)—an institutional, regulated product offered by Grayscale Investments that holds a fraction of BTC per publicly traded share, allowing investors to be exposed to the asset in a safe manner.
First Midwest earlier held 7,693 GBTC shares as of March 2021. However, it seems to be buying the dip with its increase in exposure, holding over 29,498 GBTC shares (≈$910,000) as of June 30.
GBTC, BTC, and market dumps
GBTC, a popular institutional vehicle for trading BTC, is a regulated financial product offered by Grayscale Investments, a multibillion-dollar crypto firm.
The publicly traded product holds a small amount of BTC in a custodial account for each share offered to investors, forming what is currently one of the only ways for accredited and institutional US investors to legally gain exposure to BTC.
As listed on its website, each GBTC share currently holds 0.00094 BTC, amounting to just over $30 at press time. The share itself trades at $27 at a discounted premium charged by Grayscale (this is determined by market factors such as demand for its product).
Who is buying GBTC?
First Midwest isn’t the only bank investing in BTC via GBTC. Earlier this month saw Morgan Stanley, the US multinational bank, report a 26.5 BTC holding via the institutional product (as part of its Europe Opportunity fund).
Meanwhile, while GBTC allows institutional investors to gain exposure to BTC, some point out the many “unlocks” as potential turning points of the broader market. As CryptoSlate reported this month, JPMorgan stated BTC could drop to as low as $25,000 post the GBTC unlocks later this month.
“While weak flows and price dynamics resulting from last month’s selloff fueled BTC’s recent declines, possible sales of shares in the Grayscale BTC Trust upon the expiry of a six-month lockup period could be an additional headwind,” wrote analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou in a client note.
The post Legacy US bank increases BTC exposure via Grayscale BTC Trust appeared first on CryptoSlate.
