Grayscale head of trading and capital markets Krista Lynch said at Token2049 Singapore that the firm’s spot Zcash ETF, ZCSH, attracted more than $1 billion in its first 30 trading days. By first-month asset gathering, she said, the fund ranks in the top 1% of ETFs launched over the past decade.
Speaking in an interview with The Starting Block, Lynch said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s generic listing standards now cover about 15 tokens. That framework, she said, gives issuers more flexibility as they decide which crypto products to launch beyond Bitcoin and Ether.
ZCSH posts more than $1 billion in first 30 trading days
Lynch said Grayscale had identified 27 assets under consideration in January across categories including AI, DeFi, consumer and infrastructure. She said that selectivity is now showing up in the market.
“Measured by assets raised in its first month as an ETF, the Zcash ETF ranks in the top 1% of ETFs launched over the past decade,” Lynch said during the interview with The Starting Block at Token2049 Singapore.
Lynch oversees a trading desk that buys or sells the underlying tokens for every creation and redemption across Grayscale’s ETF lineup. She said the role now also extends into business development and investor education.
“At Token2049, everyone is deep inside the crypto bubble, but many of our conversations are really about ‘What is Bitcoin? What is Ethereum?’ You have to start with the basics,” she said.
SEC listing standards now cover about 15 tokens
Lynch said the SEC’s generic listing standards have created a framework covering about 15 tokens, allowing issuers to make more independent product decisions based on investor demand and their own judgment.
Her remarks point to a market that is no longer focused only on whether crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ether can list, but also on which digital assets are strong enough to support investment products.
Grayscale uses SEC innovation exemption to pursue fund tokenization
Lynch said Grayscale is also looking beyond traditional fund structures as the ETF market expands. After the SEC introduced its innovation exemption, the company filed applications last week to tokenize two products formed under the Investment Company Act of 1940: a Bitcoin covered call fund and an Ether covered call fund.
She described the innovation exemption as a “consolation prize” after the Clarity Act failed to pass.
“Of course, we were unhappy and disappointed that the Clarity Act did not pass, but once you get past that hurdle, in some ways things become clearer because it is no longer an open question hanging over the market,” Lynch said.
Lynch added that the SEC exemption still gives the industry a route to move tokenization forward. Last month, Grayscale joined several crypto companies in urging the SEC to speed up ETF reviews and allow registration drafts to be submitted confidentially.
