Key Takeaways
- • Grayscale's Zcash (ZEC) spot ETF gathered more than $1 billion in assets within its first 30 trading days, a pace the firm says places it in the top 1% of ETFs launched over the past decade by first-month inflows.
- • Krista Lynch, Grayscale's managing director and head of trading and capital markets, said the result shows crypto ETFs are moving beyond Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
- • Grayscale filed to tokenize a Bitcoin covered-call fund and an Ethereum covered-call fund, both 1940 Act products, under the SEC's innovation exemption introduced Sept. 17 after the CLARITY Act failed to advance in the Senate.
- • Lynch called the innovation exemption a consolation prize, but said it removes uncertainty about the tokenization path for the industry.
- • The SEC's generic listing standards now cover roughly 15 tokens, giving issuers room to launch ETFs based on investor demand.
Summary
Grayscale's Zcash spot ETF (ZEC) gathered more than $1 billion in assets during its first 30 trading days, a result the firm says ranks in the top 1% of ETFs launched over the past decade by first-month inflows. Krista Lynch, Grayscale's managing director and head of trading and capital markets, said in an interview with The Block's Starting Block at the Token2049 conference in Singapore that the result signals crypto ETFs are moving beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. She said investor interest in the asset class remains high but cautioned that newer entrants need simple, basic education rather than deep technical detail, noting that "everyone is very in the crypto bubble."
Grayscale recently filed to tokenize two of its registered fund products, a Bitcoin covered-call fund and an Ethereum covered-call fund, under the Securities and Exchange Commission's innovation exemption. The SEC introduced that exemption on Sept. 17 after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, the crypto market structure bill that had been expected to set clearer rules for digital asset trading. Lynch described the exemption as a consolation prize but said it gives the industry a path to make progress on tokenization without the broader legislation, and that the outcome has at least removed uncertainty.
Separately, the SEC's generic listing standards now cover roughly 15 tokens, giving issuers room to bring new ETF products to market based on investor demand. Grayscale said in January it was considering 27 assets across AI, DeFi, consumer, and infrastructure categories for potential listings. Grayscale and other firms also pressed the SEC in September to speed up ETF reviews and to permit confidential draft filings ahead of public submission.
Grayscale recently filed to tokenize two of its registered fund products, a Bitcoin covered-call fund and an Ethereum covered-call fund, under the Securities and Exchange Commission's innovation exemption. The SEC introduced that exemption on Sept. 17 after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, the crypto market structure bill that had been expected to set clearer rules for digital asset trading. Lynch described the exemption as a consolation prize but said it gives the industry a path to make progress on tokenization without the broader legislation, and that the outcome has at least removed uncertainty.
Separately, the SEC's generic listing standards now cover roughly 15 tokens, giving issuers room to bring new ETF products to market based on investor demand. Grayscale said in January it was considering 27 assets across AI, DeFi, consumer, and infrastructure categories for potential listings. Grayscale and other firms also pressed the SEC in September to speed up ETF reviews and to permit confidential draft filings ahead of public submission.
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