Grayscale Launches Crypto Investment Trust for MakerDAO
Grayscale has announced the launch of a new cryptocurrency investment trust fund specifically for MakerDAO, as stated in an announcement made on August 13. The fund, named the Grayscale MakerDAO Trust, aims to provide investors with direct access to MakerDAO’s native MKR token.
The firm emphasized that “MKR provides investors exposure to an on-chain credit protocol, stablecoins, real-world assets, and more, through MakerDAO’s ecosystem.” MakerDAO, which operates as a lending platform on the Ethereum blockchain and was established in 2017, supports the decentralized stablecoin, DAI. According to data from DeFiLlama, MakerDAO is currently the fourth-largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, with assets totaling approximately $7 billion. Its DAI stablecoin is ranked third in the market, following Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
Previously, Grayscale provided exposure to MakerDAO through its DeFi Fund, which included various assets such as Uniswap, Lido, and Synthetix. However, the new Grayscale MakerDAO Trust will concentrate solely on the MKR token.
Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research, described the launch as a crucial advancement in the company’s cryptocurrency product offerings. She noted, “The launch of the Grayscale MakerDAO Trust allows investors to experience the growth of the entire MakerDAO ecosystem, aiming to eliminate DeFi’s reliance on traditional finance infrastructure by providing a permissionless, decentralized, and open stablecoin system.”
The Trust is now open for daily subscriptions from eligible individual and accredited institutional investors.
Grayscale’s Expanding Trust Portfolio
This launch follows closely on the heels of Grayscale’s introduction of its Bittensor Protocol and Sui Trusts, which also focus on the native tokens of these respective ecosystems. The asset management firm now manages trusts for over 20 digital assets, including Solana, Litecoin, Chainlink, ZCash, and more.
According to data from CoinGlass, the total value of assets under Grayscale’s crypto trust management exceeds $7 billion. Over the past year, Grayscale has successfully transitioned its Trusts in Bitcoin and Ethereum into spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States. These products are among the largest crypto ETFs available, with combined assets approaching $20 billion.
