Softbank, Alphabet Join $700m Investment In Digital Currency Group, Valuing Dcg At $10b

Before launching DCG, Silbert founded Finovate alum SecondMarket, a firm that enables private companies and investment funds to execute primary and secondary transactions. McClurg believes that Bitcoin ETFs will push all closed end funds and trusts that hold bitcoin to a constant state of discount. The American venture capital company announced its secondary round, in which existing investors are selling shares to new backers.

The cryptocurrency behemoth will spend up to $10 million each on repurchasing shares in Grayscale Zcash Trust and Grayscale Zcash Trust . The rest of the $250 million cash pile will be spent on other trusts, including Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust . The share repurchase program focuses on Grayscale’s Zcash, Litecoin, and Horizon investment products. Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group, also known as DCG, said that it wants to re-acquire around $250 million in shares for different Grayscale investment products. The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of almost $67,000 in October and ended the month up by more than 40%.

The executive order potentially expands the adoption of virtual currencies in the U.S. financial system. Biden’s order will require the Treasury Department, the Commerce Department and other key agencies to prepare reports on “the future of money” and the role cryptocurrencies will play. The bull-case rests on the big data specialist’s ability to expand its offerings beyond large government/enterprise contracts which have historically generated the bulk of the company’s revenue. Like its previous share repurchase announcement, DCG’s Wednesday statement didn’t specify the reasoning behind its latest buyback.

Advertisement Digital Currency Group has announced plans to buy back $250 million in shares of several Grayscale crypto trusts amid continued negative premiums for these products. According to an announcement issued on Wednesday, the $250 million repurchase plan is split into two separate buybacks. The first buyback covers up to $50 million in total for shares of Grayscale Litecoin Trust ($30 million), Grayscale Horizen Trust, and Grayscale Zcash Trust. The remaining $200 million could be used for buybacks of any of the other six publicly-traded Grayscale products including the company’s flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust . Wednesday’s announcement increases the limit of its share buyback program for Grayscale products.

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According to statistics, inflows into crypto funds topped $36 million last week, with Bitcoin products posting a five-week streak of $239 million inflows. Meanwhile, Grayscale is working to convert its GBTC product to a full-fledged bitcoin electrum btc wallet exchange-traded fund as part of its broader crypto ETF push. Digital Currency Group has announced plans to buy back $250 million in shares of several Grayscale crypto trusts amid continued negative premiums for these products.

The Wall Street Journal broke the news earlier today, noting that DCG’s sell-off is the second-largest in crypto history and makes DCG one of the highest-valued private companies in the sector. As Blockworks has previously reported, the success of Canada’s two bitcoin ETFs has absorbed much of the fund flow that would be once destined for Grayscale. The $700m deal was led by SoftBank and included Ribbit Capital and CapitalG – a subsidiary of Google’s parent company Alphabet, among others. Digital Currency Group says it is selling shares to SoftBank and Alphabet’s venture capital branch in a deal that values the crypto conglomerate at more than $10 billion. Digital Currency Group announced today a $700 million investment from big-name investors, pushing the crypto conglomerate’s valuation to $10 billion.

It can only succeed once usage reaches a critical mass, and users are both coordinated in their efforts and incentivized to support the broader community. More than 100 million people around the world now hold some form of cryptocurrency, and all of the dominos are beginning to fall into place. All tokens worldwide now command a combined market capitalization of over $2 trillion, enabling user behaviors and community building not previously possible. https://cryptominer.services/ We’re also seeing significant traction in Decentralized Finance , which already has over $100 billion in value locked, as well as Non-Fungible Tokens , which are quickly approaching $50 billion in annual transaction volume. As reported by U.Today, DCG announced that it would buy back $250 million worth of shares in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust , its crown jewel. The company then upped its buyback authorization program by $500 million in early May.

Cmc Crypto 200

GBTC has been trading at a discount to the bitcoin NAV since February 2021, according to The Block’s Data Dashboard. The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. The Digital Currency Group board has authorized a share repurchase program of up to $250 million across its nine publicly traded cryptocurrency trusts.

One insider with knowledge of the deal told Blockworks this was a play to stimulate demand for GBTC and eliminate the discount because of pressure from trust shareholders. Jim Lee, founder StratFI, a boutique investment advisory firm says that GBTC’s relatively high management fees push away prospective investors. “When I think back to the nineties, very few companies I met still exist – it’s very hard to evolve as quickly as technology evolves – you need to be a pretty nimble company to take advantage of it,” Lawee said.

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  • One insider with knowledge of the deal told Blockworks this was a play to stimulate demand for GBTC and eliminate the discount because of pressure from trust shareholders.
  • The world’s largest cryptocurrency hit an all-time high of almost $67,000 in October and ended the month up by more than 40%.
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We build service businesses to fill important gaps in the existing market infrastructure. We incubate, acquire, and operate businesses that provide a variety of financial and professional services to financial institutions, corporations, and startups. We build and support bitcoin and blockchain companies by leveraging our insights, network, and access to capital. Maturation is being facilitated by increasingly clear regulatory guidance, but token prices are volatile, market manipulations common, blockchains not fully scalable and proof-of-work protocols too energy-consumptive. It truly feels like the internet circa 1998, back when Yahoo was disrupting AOL, and Google was transitioning from a dorm room project into an early angel-backed startup. We’re in awe of the Cambrian explosion of innovations taking place across Web 3.0 in DeFi, NFT, scalability solutions and base layer protocols, but what’s most exciting is that this is only the beginning.

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In May 2021, the corporation committed a complete of $ 750 million in Grayscale Bitcoin Trust stock. Like the former trial, DCG did not specify the explanation for its most recent acquisition. Blockworks reached out to Grayscale for insight but the company had no comment on the purchase. This increases DCG’s prior authorization to buy up to $750M worth of GBTC shares by $250M.

Information regarding stock purchases will be available in the applicable periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Forms 10-K and 10-Q as required by the applicable rules of the Exchange Act. Silbert said CapitalG brings Alphabet and Google’s expertise in data and consumer companies, while Softbank has the global footprint and ability to turbo-charge portfolio companies. The investment also signals new interest by venture capital firms looking for exposure to the digital asset class outside of bitcoin. The Manhattan-based, private company announced a secondary round on Monday, in which existing investors are selling shares to new backers.

Digital Currency And Protocol Investing

With a nearly perfect track record of building successful subsidiaries, DCG is uniquely well-positioned to leverage future growth trends within the crypto industry. And as crypto continues to grow, DCG’s businesses are poised to gain even more market share in an increasingly large pie. Given their strong market position, diversified and critical services and impressive balance sheet, DCG’s opportunities to expand into adjacent products and services seem practically limitless. Collectively, these businesses are playing an important role in the industry because they’ve become the “on-ramp” to the crypto world for institutions and millions of people worldwide. Currently, Grayscale is the biggest crypto asset manager in the world with almost $27 billion in assets under management , according to the latest data.

Litecoin, Zcash, Bitcoin Cash: Dcg Authorizes Additional $250 Million For Share Buybacks

The value of Grayscale’s holdings has dropped from a peak of nearly $43.6 billion in November, representing a steep pullback in the price of Bitcoin and the wider crypto market. Over the past year, institutional investors have increased their participation in crypto products, although their interest has waned during periods of extreme market volatility. After a long drawdown, cryptocurrency investment funds seem to be raising new capital in recent weeks. Crypto funds inflowed $36 million last week, with Bitcoin products registering five consecutive weekly inflows totaling $239 million, according to CoinShares. According to the most recent statistics, Grayscale is the world’s biggest crypto asset manager, with almost $27 billion in assets under management. Grayscale’s assets have lost value since peaking at about $43.6 billion in November, owing to a steep drop in Bitcoin and the larger cryptocurrency market.

If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse. Like its previous share buyback announcement, DCG on Wednesday did not specify the reasoning behind its latest buyback. A vastly improved search engine helps you find the latest on companies, business leaders, and news more easily. https://cryptonews.wiki/ Valuations are submitted by companies, mined from state filings or news, provided by VentureSource, or based on a comparables valuation model. EV maker Rivian will report fourth-quarter earnings Thursday amid production woes and a price-hike fiasco that rankled customers. As the Russia-Ukraine Crisis heats up, commodities have come the forefront of investors’ minds.

The CB Insights tech market intelligence platform analyzes millions of data points on vendors, products, partnerships, and patents to help your team find their next technology solution. Digital Currency Group is the parent company of several big names in the crypto space. Until now, its valuation was somewhat of a mystery as it had only raised $25 million in primary capital since launching six years ago. Until now, its valuation was somewhat of a mystery as it had only raised $25 million in primary capital since launching. DCG will use cash on hand to fund the repurchases, and will do so in the open market under management’s discretion. CoinDesk is a global media, research, and events platform that was acquired by Digital Currency Group in 2016.

Through these financial ventures, Silbert has provided funding for more than 150 companies around the world, including Coinbase, CoinDesk, Luno, Genesis Trading, Ripple, BitPay and Chainalysis. Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of secure, compliant, and future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a proven track record and unrivaled expertise as the world’s largest digital currency asset manager. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale’s private placements, public quotations, and ETFs for exposure to both single asset, diversified, and thematic investment products. Grayscale products are distributed by Genesis Global Trading, Inc. (Member FINRA/SIPC, MSRB Registered) or Foreside Fund Services, LLC. For more information, please follow @Grayscale or visit grayscale.com.

The WSJ reported today that SoftBank led the raise through its Vision Fund 2 and its Latin America Fund, with the Japanese investment group joined by GIC Capital and Alphabet’s growth fund Capital G. On Wednesday, total cryptocurrency donations to Ukrainian government wallet addresses, charities and charities tracked by Cointelegraph reached $108 million. I have read Investing.com’s comments guidelines and agree to the terms described. We do not allow any sharing of private or personal contact or other information about any individual or organization. This will result in immediate suspension of the commentor and his or her account.

For more details on our approach, please view the DCG token disclosure policy here. A leading digital asset exchange and wallet operating in major and emerging markets, Luno makes it safe and easy to buy, store and learn about cryptocurrencies. Foundry is a financing and advisory company focused on digital asset mining and staking. By tapping DCG’s institutional expertise, capital, and market intelligence, Foundry provides North American bitcoin miners and manufacturers with the resources needed to maintain and secure decentralized networks.

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In addition to its investment portfolio, DCG is the parent company of Genesis , Grayscale Investments , CoinDesk , Foundry , Luno and TradeBlock . The share buyback program is centered around the Litecoin Trust, Horizon Trust, Zcash Trust and other Grayscale products, DCG confirmed on Wednesday. The pace and timing of share repurchases is not fixed and will depend on several factors, “including the amount of available cash, price and prevailing market conditions,” the company said. DCG is now at the heart of the sector, investing in over 200 blockchain-related businesses across 35 countries. DCG is the parent company of Genesis , Grayscale Investments , CoinDesk , Foundry , Luno , and TradeBlock .

DCG was founded in 2015 by Barry Silbert, who said that the deal will allow some early market players to close out their positions in the company and pocket the profits. The new investors are also expected to boost DCG’s technical and operational trade 24 scam complaint and review abilities and broaden its geographic reach. The move comes at a time when subsidiary Grayscale Investments recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to convert GBTC into a bitcoin (BTC-USD) spot exchange-traded fund.

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