FTX sold nearly $1 billion of Grayscale spot bitcoin ETF shares: report

Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX has sold nearly $1 billion worth of shares in Grayscale's GTBC fund since the firm's instrument began trading recently as a spot bitcoin ETF, according to CoinDesk , which cited "private data" and anonymous sources.

Grayscale's spot bitcoin ETF has led rival funds in terms of trading volume, with much of that made up of outflows. As of Friday, Grayscale's fund had accounted for about 54% of trading volume since the new crypto-based ETFs began trading earlier this month, according to Yahoo Finance data compiled by The Block.

Bloomberg Intelligence senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas posted data over the weekend showing that Grayscale's fund had shed $2.8 billion since trading began. 

FTX selling off shares in Grayscale's ETF is part of the failed cryptocurrency exchange's ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, according to CoinDesk. The bankruptcy estate sold all 22 million shares in FTX's possession, it also said in its report.

FTX creditors hoping to recoup losses

At the end of November, a Delaware bankruptcy court said FTX Trading and affiliated debtors could start selling its Grayscale shares. FTX owned about 22 million shares of Grayscale's flagship bitcoin fund, at the time worth $597 million.

FTX  filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. Creditors of the exchange, which includes individual clients, are hoping to recoup losses through the sale of assets like the Grayscale shares.

Meanwhile, the price of bitcoin has sunk from nearly $49,000, when the spot bitcoin ETFs began trading, to less than $41,000 as of 10:58 a.m. ET, according to The Block's Price Page.