Grayscale’s Delaware Trust Move Sparks Major ETF Speculation Frenzy
Grayscale just dropped a regulatory bombshell—and the crypto markets are buzzing.
The digital asset giant filed paperwork to establish a series of new trusts in Delaware, a state long favored for its corporate-friendly laws. This isn't just administrative housekeeping. It's a classic, telltale maneuver seen right before a firm launches exchange-traded products.
The Delaware Playbook
Why Delaware? Speed and secrecy. The state's Division of Corporations operates like a well-oiled machine, processing filings with ruthless efficiency. Setting up a trust structure there is often the final, quiet step before taking the whole show to the SEC. Grayscale isn't just dipping a toe in; it's preparing the entire legal runway.
Reading Between the Regulatory Lines
This move screams preparation. You don't go through the hassle and expense of registering multiple new trusts unless you have concrete plans to fill them with assets and offer them to the public. For a firm with Grayscale's track record—and its landmark legal win against the SEC—every administrative action is scrutinized as a potential signal.
It’s a chess move in a high-stakes game, telegraphing intent to the market while the official paperwork catches up. Because in finance, sometimes the most bullish signals come from a filing clerk in Wilmington, not a trader on Wall Street.
The Ripple Effect
Expect volatility. The mere whisper of a spot crypto ETF approval has historically moved markets. A concrete, procedural step from the industry's largest holder? That's a shout. Traders will pile into anticipatory positions, while rivals scramble to match Grayscale's operational tempo.
It underscores a brutal truth in modern finance: the real alpha often comes from parsing bureaucratic documents, not balance sheets. The race to legitimize crypto via traditional wrappers is on, and Grayscale just fired the starting pistol from a filing cabinet.
Grayscale reportedly prepares for BNB and Hyperliquid ETF listings
Speculations hint that Grayscale is preparing to submit applications for BNB and Hyperliquid ETFs. As of the publication of this article, Grayscale has not commented on the registration or provided further details regarding the possibility of the incoming ETFs. However, Delaware trusts are often attributed to administration arrangements rather than regulatory milestones. Asset managers have established these entities in the past to streamline future filings when appropriate listing conditions are met.
In its December 2025 monthly report, the asset manager expressed a positive outlook for the cryptocurrency market in 2026, citing improved regulations and a growing demand for crypto assets from institutions and large organizations. In the report, Grayscale claimed that the outflows witnessed on ETFs towards the end of the year and the beginning of 2026 were mainly tax-driven. Complementing data from Sosovalue shows that spot Bitcoin ETFs witnessed outflows worth $398.95 million on January 8, marking a three-day streak of negative flows.
Grayscale’s potential expansion outside of Bitcoin and ethereum demonstrates that the crypto ecosystem is growing at the institutional level. Hyperliquid’s inclusion, despite its late arrival, also suggests that larger players may be showing interest in low-cap crypto assets and emerging projects.
Hyperliquid launched in 2023 and has already secured its place among the largest decentralized crypto exchanges. A previous Cryptopolitan report highlighted that the exchange wrapped up 2025 with a revenue of $844 million and onboarded more than 600k new users that year.
Grayscale’s GDLC receives SEC approval to list on NYSE Arca
In September 2025, the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund (GDLC) received regulatory approval from the U.S. SEC to list on the NYSE Arca. The fund holds a collection of crypto assets, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA).
The regulator had approved its application months prior, but withheld its listing. Bitcoin constitutes 72% of the fund’s assets, while Ethereum claims second position with 17%. XRP and Solana have smaller allocations, worth 5.62% and 4.03%, respectively, while Cardano has the least allocation, totaling 1%. The commission announced that the listing will allow investors to gain exposure to volatile crypto assets in a regulated environment.
In September last year, ETF analyst Nate Geraci applauded Grayscale for fighting for the industry against the U.S. SEC during Gary Gensler’s leadership. Geraci predicted that Grayscale’s actions, alongside Trump’s pro-crypto administration, will soon open the floodgates for crypto ETFs.
Grayscale offers numerous ETFs that provide investors with exposure to a diverse range of crypto assets. Its NYSE-listed bitcoin ETF GBTC has $14.81 billion in Bitcoin holdings, while the Bitcoin mini-trust ETF (BTC) has $4.38 billion in net assets under management. The firm’s Ethereum fund, ETHE, holds Ethereum worth $2.73 billion, while its ETH staking ETF has $2.26 billion in net assets under management as of the time of this publication.
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