The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has approved Grayscale Investments to list what is considered to be the US’s first publicly-traded cryptocurrency Index Fund.

FINRA is an independent regulator for all securities firms in the United States, with the goal to write, maintain, and enforce rules – governing registered brokers and broker-dealer firms in the United States.

Upon obtaining the approval, Grayscale Investmentsthe oldest and largest digital currency asset manager — can now list the Digital Large Cap (DLC) fund on over-the-counter markets.

The Digital Large Cap fund exposes investors to the five largest cryptocurrencies – based on market capitalization – at any time. 

Grayscale managing director, Michael Sonnenshein said in an interview with CoinDesk:

“Investors are looking for broad market exposure to the digital currency asset class,”

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Source: Wharton Innovators

As of 30 September, 2019, each share of the DLC fund included: 80.3% Bitcoin (BTC), 9.9% Ethereum (ETH), 5.8% Ripple (XRP), 2.2% Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and 1.8% Litecoin (LTC). 

Sonnenshein added:

“This gives them the ability to make a singular investment that is going to give them exposure to approximately 70 percent of the market via this one vehicle.”

Further details on the Digital Large Cap fund (DLC):

  • The DLC fund will be rebalanced on a quarterly basis to account for changes in cryptocurrency market caps.
  • Doing so will also help Grayscale Investments to remove existing digital assets and adding new assets. 
  • Being an Index Fund, the DLC fund acts as a passive investment vehicle. It will not be actively managed.

Aside from providing the Digital Large Cap (DLC) Index Fund, Grayscale Investment also has single-asset investment products. This includes – Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lumens (XLM), Ripple (XRP), and Zcash (ZEC).

DLC fund will not only help investors gain exposure to the volatile digital currency market but also help avoid the challenges of buying, storing, and safekeeping cryptocurrencies.