Mysterious Owner Of Second-Largest Ethereum Wallet Exposed By DeFi Protocol

Grayscale is known to be one of the largest holders of the flagship cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. However, a recent report by crypto analytics platform Arkham Intelligence suggests that the asset manager could also be the entity with the second-largest Ethereum holdings.

Grayscale Holds Close To $5 Billion In ETH

Arkham tweeted that it “identified” the Grayscale Ethereum Trust on-chain. According to the platform, this discovery places Grayscale as the “second largest ETH entity,” with the asset manager holding close to $5 billion (around $4.88 billion at the time of writing) in Ether.

Breaking: Arkham has identified the Grayscale Ethereum Trust on chain.

It is now the second largest ETH entity globally with $5B in ETH.

This had not been previously reported or publicly identified. pic.twitter.com/MQqKT6E9v6

— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) September 1, 2023

The crypto analytics firm noted that Grayscale’s ETH holdings were split across over 500 addresses, with none holding over $30 million. This apparently made it more difficult for Arkham to identify Grayscale’s ETH holding.

Arkham stated that part of the identification process involved cross-referencing its information with Grayscale’s publicly reported balances. According to Grayscale’s website, the total assets under management (AUM) for its Grayscale Ethereum Trust is nearly $5 billion. As such, it seems plausible that the wallets identified by Arkham may indeed belong to Grayscale. 

However, it is worth mentioning that there seem to be some discrepancies between Arkham’s full report of Grayscale’s holdings and the asset manager’s report on its website. The crypto analytics platform lists Grayscale’s Bitcoin holdings at $92.5 million. Meanwhile, Grayscale states on its website that it has nearly $16 billion in AUM for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

ETHUSD trading at $1,631 today. Chart: TradingView.com

Grayscale Key To Ethereum Price

Grayscale is one of several firms hoping to tap into both the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF markets. The asset manager has filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to launch its Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF. Grayscale also has an application with the SEC to offer a Spot Bitcoin ETF.

Image: The Block

It is believed that the launch of Grayscale’s ETH futures ETF could significantly impact Ethereum’s price and probably see it break above $2,000. This belief stems from the fact that the launch of ETH futures ETF would bring added trading volume for the crypto asset and invariably see a surge in its price. 

Furthermore, Grayscale’s victory against the SEC gives an insight into how the crypto market, including ETH, could react on the back of a major milestone in the crypto industry. ETH surged above $1,700 following Grayscale’s victory despite not being the crypto asset under consideration in the lawsuit. 

As such, the approval of Grayscale’s ETH futures application, alongside other pending ones, could be massive for Ethereum and the crypto market as a whole.

Featured image from Inside Bitcoins