Recently, chief executive CEO of the world’s biggest digital asset manager Grayscale Investments, Michael Sonnenshein confirmed that the company is planning to launch expansion beyond its North American base by expanding its product offerings into Europe. This will support the growing institutional demand for cryptocurrencies in the region.

In an interview, executive Michael Sonnenshein said that to discuss the process in which Grayscale’s suite of products would be rolled out in the region and the launch timeline, the world’s biggest investment vehicle for cryptocurrencies was holding a series of meetings with various possible local partners. No concrete plan has been made regarding which exchanges, which products, and which countries would be supported initially. Although there is a plan to launch a series of pilot tests in several different markets across the European Union.

According to Michael Sonnenshein, the company is not viewing the entire European market as in fact one market although the EU is unified. He said, “Instead we’re going to be very thoughtful, very methodical about each of the financial centers and financial hubs that we ultimately launch in because we recognize the differentiation of investor behaviors and attitudes, and of regulatory regimes.”

Grayscale has over $35.7 billion in assets under management. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which has the ticker symbol GBTC, has nearly $25.8 billion in assets. The fund manager has $36bn of assets invested in funds tracking digital tokens such as bitcoin and Ethereum. For determining now its product rollout Grayscale which till the world’s largest crypto fund manager, is looking at investor behaviors and local regulations.

The company is trying to convert its flagship GBTC product into a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) which Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the U.S. has not accepted and is yet to do so. The company has expressed a willingness to take legal action against the Securities and Exchange Commission in case it denies the application. Recently smart contract fund launched which excludes Ethereum has more than $3.7 million under management.

As per publication European market has over 80 exchange-traded crypto products that are listed in Western Europe. It also includes 60 that were launched before 2022. This move into Europe came when the UK and EU took steps to set up a regulatory framework that will both protect investors and encourage them to see the benefits of owning and trading digital assets.

Indrani bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA