'Educate Yourself': Grayscale ETF Head Wants Skeptics To Learn About 'Disruptive' Nature Of Bitcoin And Other Cryptos

Grayscale’s Global Head of ETFs, Dave LaValle, encouraged cryptocurrency skeptics to educate themselves about the “disruptive” potential of the asset class.

What Happened: In an exclusive chat with Benzinga, LaValle likened the current state of cryptocurrency to the period when exchange-traded funds began gaining traction at the beginning of this millennium.

“It wasn’t really until the mid-2000s is when people really adopted them and started to question some of the myth that they were financial weapons of mass destruction,” he stated, adding that Bitcoin BTC/USD and other digital assets were now at a similar crossroads.

“We’re having really high quality conversations in that regard,” LaValle added. “We’re not here to say that Bitcoin belongs in every single client’s portfolio, but we’re here to say you need to educate yourself.”

It’s worth noting that initial interest in SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, the first ETF in the U.S., was indeed poor and the fund was almost closed before investors came around to the idea of using ETFs as investment vehicles.

Why It Matters: Grayscale has been at the forefront of integrating cryptocurrencies into mainstream finance.

It launched its flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust GBTC fund for accredited investors in 2013, which got converted into an ETF last year. As of this writing, it’s the third-largest Bitcoin investment vehicle, holding assets worth nearly $20 billion, according to SoSo Value.

It also operates the Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF ETHE, which is the world’s second-largest Ethereum fund.

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As of this writing, the digital asset manager has submitted applications with the SEC for ETFs tracking Dogecoin DOGE/USD, XRP XRP/USD, Solana SOL/USD and Avalanche AVAX/USD.

Price Action: Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust were up 0.03% in after-hours trading after closing 1.75% lower at $261.04 during Wednesday's regular trading session, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

Shares of JPMorgan closed 2.72% lower at $84.31 during Wednesday's regular trading session. Year-to-date, the ETF has gained nearly 14%.

GBTC demonstrated a high momentum score—a measure of the stock's relative strength based on its price movement patterns and volatility over multiple timeframes—as of this writing. To check how Grayscale’s other ETFs performed on this metric, visit Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings