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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Ruholamin Haqshanas
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Grayscale Investments has launched a new Dogecoin investment fund, giving institutional investors exposure to the popular meme coin.
The Grayscale Dogecoin Trust, announced on January 31, will provide a regulated avenue for investors to gain access to DOGE, the leading memecoin by market capitalization.
The asset manager described Dogecoin as “an open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency derived from Litecoin, which itself originated from Bitcoin.”
Dogecoin Fund is Limited to Institutional Investors
The trust is limited to institutional investors, offering them exposure to DOGE without the need to hold the asset directly.
Dogecoin operates on a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain, similar to Bitcoin, but with less computational demand for transaction verifications and no upper limit on supply.
This makes DOGE unique compared to many other digital assets.
Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s head of product and research, emphasized Dogecoin’s growth, stating that it has evolved into a “potentially powerful tool for promoting financial accessibility.”
Grayscale’s move comes amid growing institutional interest in memecoins, a sector that has historically been dominated by retail traders.
The launch of the Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on January 18, ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, fueled a wave of speculation.
The meme coin gained massive traction on the Solana network, generating so much activity that it caused network congestion for days.
Following this surge, asset managers Osprey Funds and REX Shares filed to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for DOGE, TRUMP, and Bonk (BONK) on January 21, signaling that meme coins are becoming an increasingly serious asset class.
With the Dogecoin Trust, Grayscale continues to expand its suite of single-asset crypto investment products.
In recent months, the firm has introduced funds for Lido (LDO), Optimism (OP), and Aave (AAVE).
Additionally, it has placed over 35 altcoins, including Worldcoin (WLD), Pyth (PYTH), and Rune (RUNE), on its watchlist for potential future investment products.
As the world’s largest crypto fund manager, Grayscale oversees nearly $35 billion in assets as of December 2023.
It is best known for its flagship Bitcoin and Ethereum investment trusts (GBTC and ETHE), which have played a major role in institutional crypto adoption.
Gensler’s Departure Sparks Rise in Crypto ETF Filings
Grayscale’s latest filing comes at a pivotal time for the SEC and cryptocurrency ETFs, following the resignation of SEC Chair Gary Gensler on Jan. 20.
Gensler, known for his cautious stance on crypto regulations, stepped down amid increasing pressure for greater regulatory clarity in the digital asset space.
Just recently, Tuttle Capital Management filed applications for ten cryptocurrency-based leveraged ETFs, including funds tied to popular meme coins.
Analysts suggest the filings are part of a broader strategy to test the boundaries of an SEC under Trump-era crypto-friendly regulators.
The proposed ETFs include leveraged funds that aim to deliver twice the returns of their underlying assets, such as the meme coins Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA).
Furthermore, Osprey Funds and REX Shares have filed for meme coin ETFs covering Dogecoin (DOGE), Official Trump (TRUMP), and Bonk (BONK) on Jan. 21.
Meanwhile, the SEC has also granted initial approval for Bitwise Asset Management’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF, which would track both BTC and ETH in a single fund.
