Regulatory Approval Secured! Grayscale to Launch Trading for Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin Trusts

Grayscale Investments, a cryptocurrency investment firm, has recently received approval from U.S. regulatory authorities to offer Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) through the same GBTC issuance method to the public.

During an investor call held on July 16th, as mentioned in Grayscale's website, CEO Barry Silbert expressed optimism towards cryptocurrencies, believing that U.S. regulations will continue to improve or at least not worsen. He stated:

For the first time ever, it feels like we have passed the high-risk period of a Bitcoin ban. Bitcoin has strong support among lawmakers and regulators in Washington, which gives it the right to exist. Ultimately, no one can shut down the Bitcoin network.

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BCHG and LTCN to be Listed on OTC Market Soon

According to an announcement by Grayscale Investments on July 20th, the latest trust funds, Grayscale®Bitcoin Cash Trust and Grayscale®Litecoin Trust, have received approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) in the United States to trade on the over-the-counter (OTC) market under the tickers BCHG and LTCN.

BCHG and LTCN are the fifth and sixth publicly-quoted investment products by Grayscale Investments. These are the first publicly traded securities linked to Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, respectively. However, trading will not be available until they receive qualification from the US Depository Trust Company (DTC). Previously launched trust funds include:

• Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)
• Ethereum Trust (ETHE)
• Ethereum Classic Trust (ETCG)
• Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC)

As of June 30th, Grayscale Investments manages assets totaling $4 billion, with Bitcoin Cash Trust managing $5.8 million in assets, Litecoin at $2 million, and Bitcoin at approximately $3.5 billion.

Reduction in Ripple, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash Allocation

Earlier this month, Grayscale Investments made significant changes to the allocation of its Digital Large Cap Fund, reducing the allocation of funds in XRP, BCH, and LTC by approximately 0.4% to 1.4%, and increasing the weight of Bitcoin and Ethereum. The changes took effect on June 30th as shown in the image below.

Prior to the surge in the market liquidity mining brought about by the introduction of governance tokens by Compound, the cryptocurrency market had been closely watching Grayscale Investments' Bitcoin and Ethereum trust funds. Due to the lack of redemption options for investors who buy into these funds and the positive outlook on Ethereum, the premium for ETHE had once reached 725%, six times higher than at the beginning of the year.

However, the positive news from Grayscale Investments did not boost the prices of Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin, which were priced at $225.31 and $42.3 respectively. Litecoin's market cap had dropped to eighth place at the time of writing, with the strong-performing Cardano (ADA) ranking seventh and the potential to be overtaken by ninth-place BNB at any time.