GBTC premium hits -34% all-time low as crypto funds ‘puke out’ tokens

cointelegraph.com:

The largest Bitcoin investment vehicle, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), is now trading at its biggest ever discount to the spot market.

Data from on-chain analytics resource Coinglass shows GBTC shares down 34% versus BTC/USD on major exchanges as of June 17.

Amid continued turmoil in DeFi spilling over to infect the crypto market, conditions have deteriorated for investors big and small.

The latest figures now show that institutions have definitively failed to avoid the contagion, and the already underperforming GBTC has hit new lows.

The GBTC premium, long a misnomer due to the fund’s shares in fact costing less than Bitcoin itself, is circling its lowest values in history. On June 17, these traded at 34.2% cheaper than the Bitcoin spot price (also known as net asset value or NAV).

A sharp downturn accompanied a similar dip on spot markets as BTC/USD retested $20,000 twice.

As Grayscale pursues United States regulators for permission to convert GBTC to a Bitcoin spot price exchange-traded fund (ETF), conditions continue to look unfavorable for crypto institutional products amid heightened government attention in the wake of the Terra and Celsius meltdowns.

While the firm remains buoyant on the outlook, GBTC’s performance has not escaped commentators, who point the finger at regulators for what they see as inaccurate risk assessment.

Bitcoin spot ETFs remain outlawed in the U.S. due to investor protection concerns, allowing countries such as Canada and Australia to gain first-mover advantage.

Shares of $GBTC are now 66.9% lower than they were at the peak of 2017 despite $BTC trading 5% higher. Make sure to thank Mr. Gensler for the protection everyone. pic.twitter.com/Q1cAw8hBtR

“Without ETF approval GBTC may go to -100%