Digital asset investors are reportedly paying a significant 515% premium in order to purchase Ether (ETH) via the Grayscale Ethereum Trust.
It currently costs $90.55 to acquire a share in Grayscale Investments’ Ethereum Trust (ETHE). This, despite its Ethereum (ETH) holdings per share being valued at only $16.10. In other words, it costs five times more to purchase Ether through the trust than on the open cryptocurrency market.
Although the ETHE premium fluctuates regularly, it’s currently considerably greater than the 220% that was reported back in February of this year. The price difference or gap was also a lot wider (1,150%) when ETHE initially began trading in global crypto over the counter (OTC) markets in June of last year.
Last year, Grayscale’s Ethereum Trust surpassed $1 billion in total investments. At present, the Trust has $195.1 million in assets under management (AUM). The market price has increased by around 238% during the last three months.The company’s Ether holdings have surged by over 22% for the same time period. But they’re still down nearly 7% for the year, and 78% since launch.
The ETHE trust has been created specifically for investors who are willing to pay more for an asset (compared to its market price), because of the strict regulatory oversight they get by acquiring such products – which can potentially help them avoid risk.
Investors interested in arbitrage opportunities must be aware that all ETHE shares require a minimum 1 year holding period after they’ve been issued. The Trust also requires that investors are properly accredited, with at least $25,000 in commitments when starting out.
Grayscale Investments, which operates as a subsidiary of the US-based Digital Currency Group (DCG), offers a trust for other major crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC).
The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust remains the company’s largest holding, with more than $2 billion in AUM.
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