Grayscale: Institutional Interest in Crypto Doubles in Q2

A senior executive at cryptocurrency asset management giant Grayscale has stated that institutional investors are constantly piling into the space in 2019.

Grayscale says institutions were always active

Speaking in an interview with news outlet The Block on Oct. 8, the company’s director of sales and business development Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary said business had been consistent while growing throughout this year.

The second quarter alone saw $85 million come from investors — twice as much as the first quarter — with institutional investors contributing more than 80% in total. Sharif-Askary explained:

“You know, it’s really funny, I get asked this a lot - there’s this rhetoric in the media about when are institutional investors going to get involved, when are they going to start investing, and it’s so funny because it’s ironic. We see institutional investors invest with us all the time and that’s been the case for a long time now.”

Investors are comfortable with altcoins again

These comments contrast with the general industry sentiment on institutional interest since trading platform Bakkt’s disappointing launch in September.

Since then, many have assumed that institutions will be deterred from Bitcoin (BTC) for the time being as various data sources highlighted that publicity around institutional involvement is hitting lows in recent weeks.

Sharif-Askary meanwhile noted that investment activity disregards price suppression. She revealed about 25% in Q2 of total inflows targeted altcoins, adding that it was “great to see that diversification” across different assets.

Grayscale currently offers trusts for nine cryptocurrencies, including Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) in addition to Bitcoin itself.