Crypto Asset Manager Grayscale Launches ‘Future of Finance’ ETF in Partnership With Bloomberg

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Grayscale Investments has launched its first exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Grayscale Future of Finance ETF “seeks to invest in the companies and technologies shaping the ‘future of finance.'”

Grayscale’s First ETF

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset manager, announced Wednesday the launch of its first exchange-traded fund (ETF) called Grayscale Future of Finance ETF (symbol: GFOF).

The company explained that its new ETF “seeks to invest in the companies and technologies shaping the ‘future of finance.'” In addition, it is “the first equity ETF to track the investment performance of the Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index.”

David LaValle, global head of ETFs at Grayscale Investments, opined:

Through GFOF, investors now have the opportunity to receive exposure to the companies that are pivotal to the evolution of the global financial system.

22 Holdings but No Microstrategy

The fund has 22 holdings as of Feb. 2. The top holdings are Paypal Holdings, Coinbase Global, Silvergate Capital, Robinhood Markets, Block (formerly Square), Plus500, Argo Blockchain, Hut 8 Mining, Bitfarms, and Hive Blockchain Technologies.

The Nasdaq-listed Microstrategy, however, is not in the components of the ETF. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein explained on CNBC Wednesday that “the way we designed this product was to exclude companies that are holding bitcoin on the balance sheet.” Microstrategy bought 660 more BTC on Tuesday, raising the company’s bitcoin holdings to about 125,051 BTC.

Grayscale has selected U.S. Bank as the administrator and service provider for the ETF. Foreside will serve as the ETF’s distributor.

Dave Gedeon, global head of Multi-Asset Indices at Bloomberg, noted that the new ETF product is backed by proprietary data and “robust research from Bloomberg Intelligence,” elaborating:

The Bloomberg Grayscale Future of Finance Index is primed to become the key equity benchmark for our ever-evolving digital economy.

Grayscale currently has $34.6 billion in assets under management (AUM). The company offers 16 crypto investment products. The largest is Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) which has $24.8 billion in assets. The latest addition was the Solana trust which was launched in November last year.

In January, Grayscale said it is considering 25 more crypto assets for investment products, bringing the total number of assets under consideration to 43.

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