GrayScale submits IPO application: The crypto giant with a management scale of 35 billion finally reaches the door of the US stock market

Original Title: "Grayscale, which once stood up to the SEC, is about to land on the NYSE"
Original Author: Eric, Foresight News

On the evening of November 13, Beijing time, Grayscale submitted an IPO application to the NYSE, planning to go public in the U.S. stock market through Grayscale Investment, Inc. This IPO is underwritten by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Securities, Jefferies, and Cantor.

It is noteworthy that Grayscale's listing adopts an Up-C partnership structure, meaning that Grayscale Operating, LLC, the operating and controlling entity of Grayscale, is not the listing entity, but the IPO is conducted through the newly established listing entity Grayscale Investment, Inc., achieving public trading by acquiring partial interests in the LLC. The company's founders and early investors can convert LLC interests into shares of the listing entity, and the conversion process enjoys capital gains tax benefits, only requiring payment of personal income tax. IPO investors, on the other hand, need to pay taxes on corporate profits and also pay personal income tax on stock dividends.

This listing structure not only benefits the company's "veterans" in terms of taxation but also allows for absolute control over the company post-listing through AB shares. The S-1 document shows that Grayscale is wholly owned by its parent company DCG, and Grayscale has explicitly stated that after the listing, its parent company DCG will still have decision-making power over significant matters of Grayscale through 100% ownership of Class B shares, which have greater voting rights. All funds raised from the IPO will be used to acquire interests from the LLC.

Everyone is naturally familiar with Grayscale, which was the first to launch Bitcoin and Ethereum investment products and achieved the conversion of Bitcoin and Ethereum trusts into spot ETFs through a hard-fought battle with the SEC. Its launched digital large-cap fund has the power of a "cryptocurrency version of the S&P 500," and during the last bull market cycle, every adjustment of the large-cap fund caused significant short-term price fluctuations for the tokens removed and newly added.

![](https://admin2049.chaincatcher.info/upload/image/20251114/1763100249398-189720.webp)

The S-1 document shows that as of September 30 this year, Grayscale's total assets under management reached $35 billion, achieving the global number one in cryptocurrency asset management scale. It has over 40 digital asset investment products covering more than 45 cryptocurrencies. The $35 billion includes $33.9 billion in ETPs and ETFs (mainly Bitcoin, Ethereum, and SOL-related products) and $1.1 billion in private equity funds (mainly altcoin investment products).

![](https://admin2049.chaincatcher.info/upload/image/20251114/1763100249655-205923.webp)

In addition, in terms of revenue, Grayscale's main investment products have stronger revenue-generating capabilities than major competitors, but this mainly comes from the previously non-redeemable trusts that accumulated AUM and management fee rates above the industry average.

![](https://admin2049.chaincatcher.info/upload/image/20251114/1763100250438-647455.webp)

In terms of financial performance, for the nine months ending September 30, 2025, Grayscale's operating revenue was approximately $319 million, a year-on-year decrease of 20%, operating expenses were approximately $116 million, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%, and operating profit recorded approximately $202 million, a year-on-year decrease of 30.4%. After adding other income and deducting income tax provisions, the net profit was approximately $203 million, a year-on-year decrease of 9.1%. Additionally, average asset management scale data indicates that this year's AUM may have decreased compared to last year.

![](https://admin2049.chaincatcher.info/upload/image/20251114/1763100251161-407803.webp)

Excluding non-recurring items, the adjusted net profit during the reporting period was approximately $208 million, with a net profit margin of 65.3%. Although the former decreased by 8.5% year-on-year, the net profit margin increased from 57.2% in the same period last year.

![](https://admin2049.chaincatcher.info/upload/image/20251114/1763100251558-113992.webp)

Currently, Grayscale's debt ratio is quite healthy. Although both revenue and profit have decreased, the company's operational status is continuously improving based on the increase in asset value, decrease in liabilities, and improvement in profit margins.

The S-1 document also disclosed Grayscale's future development plans, including expanding the types of private equity funds (launching more altcoin private investment products); launching actively managed products to complement passive investment products (ETFs, ETPs); and engaging in active investments, targeting its own investment products, cryptocurrencies, or other assets.

In terms of expanding distribution channels, Grayscale disclosed that it has completed due diligence with three brokerages with a total AUM of $14.2 trillion and launched Bitcoin and Ethereum mini ETFs on the platform of a large independent brokerage firm with over 17,500 financial advisors and consulting and brokerage assets exceeding $1 trillion this month. In August of this year, Grayscale partnered with iCapital Network, which has a network of 6,700 consulting firms. According to the agreement, Grayscale will provide digital asset investment channels for companies in the network through its actively managed strategies in the future.

Overall, the information disclosed by Grayscale indicates that the company is a relatively stable asset management firm, with the main source of income being management fees from investment products, leaving little room for imagination. However, given the precedents of traditional asset management companies going public, there are traces to follow for estimating Grayscale's market value, price-to-earnings ratio, etc., providing a relatively predictable investment target.

[Original Link](https://foresightnews.pro/article/detail/92088)