FTX sells nearly $1 billion worth of Grayscale Bitcoin spot ETF shares

FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange currently in bankruptcy, has sold approximately 1 billion dollars in shares of the Bitcoin spot fund Grayscale since it was converted into a spot ETF, as reported by CoinDesk.

In addition, Grayscale’s Bitcoin spot ETF has dominated the others in terms of trading volume, recording outflows totaling $2.8 billion. Let’s see all the details below. 

FTX’s record sales regarding Grayscale Bitcoin ETF spot shares

As anticipated, the former cryptocurrency exchange FTX has liquidated nearly $1 billion in shares of Grayscale’s GTBC fund since the corporate tool recently became a spot ETF on bitcoin.

The information comes from CoinDesk, which cited private data and anonymous sources.

The Grayscale Bitcoin spot ETF has surpassed competing funds in terms of trading volume, mainly due to significant outflows. 

Currently, Grayscale’s fund represents about 54% of the trading volume since the launch of cryptocurrency-based ETFs at the beginning of the month. This is according to data from Yahoo Finance compiled by The Block.

Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, revealed over the weekend the data. These indicate a loss of $2.8 billion for the Grayscale fund since the beginning of trading.

Furthermore, it is reported that the sale by FTX of Grayscale’s ETF shares is an integral part of the bankruptcy procedure of the former cryptocurrency exchange. 

In the report, it is stated that the failed move has liquidated all 22 million shares previously held by FTX.

At the end of November, a bankruptcy court in Delaware authorized FTX Trading and its affiliated debtors to initiate the sale of approximately 22 million shares of the Bitcoin Grayscale fund.

These actions, owned by FTX, were valued at 597 million dollars at the time of the exchange’s bankruptcy declaration.

We remind you that in November 2002 FTX filed for bankruptcy. In all this, creditors, including both individual clients and others, hope to recover losses through the sale of assets such as Grayscale shares.

Alameda Research withdraws lawsuit against Grayscale 

Alameda Research, the failed cryptocurrency trading arm of bankrupt FTX, has recently dropped its lawsuit against Grayscale Investments, as reported by Reuters.

The FTX affiliate had filed a lawsuit against Grayscale in March 2023, accusing the GBTC issuer of enriching themselves at the expense of shareholders. 

This legal action precedes the victory of Grayscale against the US SEC. An event that has contributed to the approval of several spot Bitcoin ETFs, including Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

With the approval and transformation of GBTC into a spot ETF, investors in Grayscale have been able to redeem their shares. 

The Alameda case argued that Grayscale charged high fees and did not allow refunds, but the approval of the Bitcoin ETF resolved the issue of refunds.

After the start of GBTC trading as an ETF on January 11, 2024, Grayscale experienced a massive outflow.

Recently, the company sent 15,308 BTC worth over 623 million dollars to Coinbase Prime, adding to the 63,000 BTC sold since the ETF approval. 

It is hypothesized that one of the sellers could be the property FTX, which has sold several assets in recent weeks.