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BlockFi Takes 5% Stake in Grayscale’s $4.8B Bitcoin Trust

The crypto lender is only the second firm to disclose such a large GBTC stake, after Three Arrows Capital.

By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:24 a.m. Published Oct 27, 2020, 7:45 p.m.
BlockFi CEO Zac Prince
BlockFi CEO Zac Prince

Crypto lender BlockFi has become one of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust’s (GBTC) biggest whales.

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  • BlockFi holds 5.07% of Grayscale’s $4.8 billion bitcoin trust, or 24,235,578 GBTC shares, according to Tuesday Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Grayscale is owned by CoinDesk's parent firm Digital Currency Group.
  • CEO Zac Prince said in a press statement BlockFi’s “significant” GBTC position will “add value” to the “marketplace for liquid and illiquid” shares. “There are lending markets related to GBTC,” he told CoinDesk in an email.
  • Crypto fund manager Three Arrows Capital is the only other entity with comparable GBTC holdings, having amassed over 21 million shares by June. That represented a 6.26% stake in GBTC at the time.
  • Entities are required to publicly disclose ownership positions over the 5% threshold. GBTC became an SEC reporting company in January.

Read more: BlockFi Raises $50M From Universities, NBA Star, Others as Crypto Lending Soars

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