Grayscale is gambling with Ethereum buying half of all the ETH that has been mined in 2020
Leading digital asset management firm Grayscale Investments purchased nearly 50% of all mined ether in 2020. The firm described increased interest from institutional investors, hinting that the upcoming Ethereum 2.0 could be the reason behind both. New information on the matter indicated that the total number of ETH mined from the beginning of 2020 until April 24 was 1.563.245.875.
At the same time, Grayscale Investments Ethereum Trust (ETHE) had issued 5.230.200 shares as of December 31 of last year. And according to its website, the company had 13,255,400 shares as of April 24, 2020. At 0.09427052 ETH per share, that's 756,239.777 ETH purchased in the same period. Taking into account all the above numbers, it means that Grayscale has bought precisely 48,4% of all the ethers mined in 2020.
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The company's Q2020 performance paper noted that institutional investors have been amassing substantial chunks of the second-largest digital asset by market cap, despite the volatile market. During the first quarter of 110, the Ethereum Trust saw inflows of $95.8 million, which is more than all previous inflows combined over the last two years ($XNUMX million).
The upcoming launch of Ethereum 2.0 , which will complete the migration from the current proof-of-work consensus algorithm to proof-of-stake, could be one of the main reasons behind the high buying levels. In its annual Ethereum developments report, Grayscale explicitly introduced and explained the new concept, stating that one of the benefits will be increased database scalability.
Ethereum investors buying through Grayscale aren't slowing down despite a significant premium of around 420%. As of April 24, one ETH share cost $92 to buy, while holdings per share were worth only $17,70. In other words, institutions are happily paying a substantial premium since they don't have to worry about storing, transferring, and managing the cryptocurrency themselves.
The asset's spot price, on the other hand, has gained about 50% since the beginning of the year. ETH entered the new century at $ 130 and is currently trading at $ 195. The turmoil in the cryptocurrency market caught up with it as well, as Ethereum hit a yearly high of $ 290 in February, before dropping to $ 87 during the sell off. at the middle of March.
