Grayscale Adds Lido & Optimism Trusts to Crypto Portfolio

Grayscale and Spotlight Stock Market Drive Crypto Integration into Traditional Finance

Grayscale Investments and Sweden’s Spotlight Stock Market are leading the way in integrating cryptocurrencies into traditional finance with groundbreaking new offerings. Grayscale has launched investment trusts for Lido DAO and Optimism governance tokens, providing exposure to key Ethereum-based protocols. Meanwhile, Spotlight Stock Market has expanded its cryptocurrency exchange-traded product (ETP) lineup, adding 20 new listings from Valour, a subsidiary of DeFi Technologies, to broaden access to a diverse range of digital assets for investors.

Grayscale Expands Investment Offerings with Lido and Optimism Governance Token Trusts

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest crypto asset manager, has unveiled two new investment trusts focused on governance tokens for Lido DAO (LDO) and Optimism (OP). The announcement on Dec. 12 highlights Grayscale’s continued push to diversify its portfolio of crypto-focused investment products while supporting Ethereum’s scaling and staking ecosystem.

What Are the New Trusts?

The newly launched Grayscale Lido DAO Trust and Grayscale Optimism Trust are designed to give investors direct exposure to the native tokens of two influential Ethereum protocols. Lido DAO is the largest liquid staking token (LST) protocol on Ethereum, while Optimism is a layer-2 (L2) scaling solution aimed at enhancing Ethereum’s efficiency and scalability.

Why Lido and Optimism?

Lido’s liquid staking technology revolutionizes staking on Ethereum by allowing users to stake their Ethereum (ETH) while maintaining liquidity. As of December, Lido holds nearly $40 billion in total value locked (TVL), securing its position as the largest DeFi protocol by TVL.

Optimism leverages optimistic rollups to enhance transaction speed and reduce costs, addressing Ethereum’s scalability challenges. With approximately $800 million in TVL, Optimism has become a key player in Ethereum’s scaling strategy and powers other networks such as Coinbase’s Base and Uniswap’s Unichain.

Additional Investment Trusts

• Aave Governance Token Fund: Grayscale launched a trust for Aave (AAVE), a leading decentralized lending protocol, in October.
• Assets Under Consideration: Grayscale added 35 altcoins to its list, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Worldcoin (WLD), and Pyth (PYTH).
• Other Recent Trusts: Three new trusts targeting Sky (formerly MakerDAO), Bittensor, and Sui were introduced in August.

Grayscale’s Dominance in Crypto Investment

Grayscale manages nearly $35 billion in assets, making it a dominant force in the crypto investment space. Its flagship products include the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), which are industry benchmarks for institutional investments in cryptocurrencies. The potential conversion of Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) into an ETF could further strengthen its position in the market.

Sweden’s Spotlight Stock Market Expands Crypto ETP Offerings with 20 New Listings by Valour

In Sweden, the Spotlight Stock Market has significantly enhanced its cryptocurrency-focused offerings with the introduction of 20 new digital asset exchange-traded products (ETPs). These products, issued by Valour, a subsidiary of DeFi Technologies, give investors regulated access to a wide range of digital assets, simplifying exposure to the blockchain ecosystem.

The Assets Behind the New ETPs

The 20 newly listed ETPs cover a diverse selection of cryptocurrencies and blockchain protocols:

• Aave (AAVE): Decentralized lending and borrowing protocol.
• Aerodrome Finance (AERO): Focused on liquidity and DeFi innovation.
• Akash Network (AKT): Decentralized cloud computing marketplace.
• Aptos (APT): A next-gen layer-1 blockchain.
• Arweave (AR): Blockchain solution for permanent data storage.
• Fetch.ai (FET): AI-driven blockchain platform.
• Fantom (FTM): Scalable blockchain for DeFi and enterprise applications.
• Injective (INJ): Layer-1 blockchain for decentralized finance.
• Jupiter (JUP): Decentralized applications and token utility platform.
• Kaspa (KAS): High-speed and secure layer-1 blockchain.
• Lido DAO (LDO): Liquid staking protocol for Ethereum.
• Metis (METIS): Layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum.
• Pendle (PENDLE): Protocol for trading tokenized yield.
• Pyth Network (PYTH): Decentralized oracle solution.
• Render (RNDR): Blockchain for decentralized GPU rendering.
• Sei (SEI): Layer-1 blockchain optimized for trading.
• Starknet (STRK): Layer-2 scaling with zero-knowledge proofs.
• THORChain (RUNE): Decentralized liquidity network.
• Worldcoin (WLD): Cryptocurrency focused on universal access and identity.
• Wormhole (W): Cross-chain interoperability protocol.

Valour’s Strategic Expansion in Europe

Valour’s new listings represent its continued push to dominate the European ETP market. The company currently manages over 60 ETPs across Europe and aims to reach 100 by the end of 2025. In addition, Valour is expanding globally, having signed a memorandum of understanding with AsiaNext for institutional listings in Asia and partnering with the Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya to list digital asset ETPs in Africa.

Spotlight Stock Market’s Role in the Crypto Ecosystem

Spotlight Stock Market, alongside Nasdaq Nordic and Nordic Growth Market, is one of Sweden’s three major stock markets. By increasing its crypto ETP offerings, Spotlight positions itself as a leader in the emerging crypto investment space, attracting a new generation of investors seeking exposure to blockchain technology and digital assets.