SEC Green-Lights Grayscale’s Digital Large-Cap Fund Conversion to an ETF
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has approved Grayscale Investments’ plan to turn its Digital Large-Cap Fund (GDLC) into a fully fledged exchange-traded fund (ETF).
What’s in the Fund?
GDLC tracks the CoinDesk Large Cap Index, so the ETF will hold the five biggest crypto-assets by market value:
| Asset | Index Weight* |
|---|---|
| Bitcoin (BTC) | ≈ 80 % |
| Ether (ETH) | ≈ 11 % |
| XRP (XRP) | ≈ 4.8 % |
| Solana (SOL) | ≈ 2.7 % |
| Cardano (ADA) | ≈ 0.8 % |
*Weights are updated quarterly and will change with market moves.
Why This Matters
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Eliminating Trust Discounts:
Grayscale’s closed-end trusts often traded far above or below their underlying crypto value because shares can’t be freely redeemed. Converting to an ETF introduces in-kind creation and redemption, which should keep the share price close to net asset value (NAV) and shut down those arbitrage gaps. -
More Crypto ETFs on the Way:
The approval extends Grayscale’s strategy of rolling its private trusts into publicly traded ETFs. It follows the firm’s headline conversion of GBTC (now the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF) after a landmark court victory over the SEC in 2023.
A Quick Look Back
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June 2022: SEC rejects Grayscale’s bid to turn GBTC into an ETF.
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August 2023: A federal appeals court rules the SEC’s denial was “arbitrary and capricious,” forcing the agency to reconsider.
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January 2024: GBTC launches as a spot-Bitcoin ETF.
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July 2025: GDLC receives SEC approval to convert to an ETF.
With GDLC poised to list as an ETF, Grayscale continues to solidify its lineup while the broader U.S. market edges toward a more mature, regulated suite of crypto investment products.
