Grayscale launches cryptocurrency-focused investment fund
Asset management firm Grayscale has launched an investment fund called the Ethereum Classic Investment Trust, according to an anonymous source cited by MarketWatch. Glenn Hutchins, co-founder of private-equity firm Silver Lake, was one of the first investors to seed the fund with some $10m in capital, the source said. Grayscale already operates a bitcoin investment trust and the ethereum classic vehicle is expected to be structurally identical to its predecessor. 
Grayscale—an asset management firm—is launching a new cryptocurrency-focused investment vehicle backed by Glenn Hutchins, a co-founder of private-equity firm Silver Lake.

The investment fund is called the Ethereum Classic Investment Trust, according to a source close to the company who didn’t want to be identified because the digital-currency focused fund is a private investment vehicle open only to high-net worth investors. It will open to outside capital Wednesday morning Eastern Time.

Hutchins is one of a handful of early investors that have seeded the trust with about $10 million in capital, the source said.

The Ethereum Classic Investment Trust is expected to be structurally identical to Grayscale’s Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC, -3.58% , the only bitcoin investment vehicle that trades publicly in the U.S., but instead of bitcoin, it is pegged to Ethereum Classic, a software platform that includes a cryptocurrency token.

The new investment product comes at a time when bitcoin and other digital currencies are garnering more public attention, if not wide adoption. In recent weeks, the Securities and Exchange Commission rejected a pair of exchange-traded funds tied to bitcoin, including one backed by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. But the rejection hasn’t dampened the enthusiasm for digital currencies; the total market capitalization of the digital universe surpassed $30 billion for the first time earlier this week.

The bitcoin investment trust typically trades at a premium to bitcoin, an indication of its popularity among high-net worth individuals who have used it to include exposure to bitcoin in their retirement accounts. The bitcoin trust presently has $220 million in assets, according data provided by Grayscale.

Ethereum Classic was created almost a year ago when a cadre of Ethereum developers broke with their peers over a controversial software update that helped recover approximately 3.5 million ether tokens that were stolen during the hack of the DAO, a kind of Ethereum-based crowdfunding platform.

The developers refused to adopt the software update, subsequently splitting the original Ethereum network into two separate versions. The original version of Ethereum began trading in the summer of 2015; Ethereum Classic launched in July 2016.

There are several key differences between the two siblings that appeal to proponents of Ethereum Classic: Unlike the original version of Ethereum, Ethereum Classic is inherently deflationary. No more than 230 million Ethereum Classic tokens will ever be created.

However, since it was first created, Ethereum Classic has lagged behind its sibling’s performance. It recently touched a post-split high above $4, while traditional ether tokens are trading at $50 apiece.

But investors in the fund expect its price will rise because, they say, the Ethereum Classic platform is more friendly to developers looking to build Ethereum-based applications. Hutchins said that from an investment standpoint, Ethereum shares certain characteristics with industrial commodities like copper in that its value is derived in part from how it is used. Grayscale is a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. Hutchins is an investor in DCG, and he also serves on its board.

In addition to launching the Ethereum trust, Grayscale is, along with the New York Stock Exchange, petitioning the SEC to allow its bitcoin trust to trade on the NYSE’s ETF platform. If it is successful, the trust would become the first bitcoin-focused ETF in the U.S. However, the agency isn’t expected to make a final decision until September at the latest.