Grayscale announced Oct. 21 that eligible investors can use crypto to subscribe for shares in 10 products through intermediaries; approximate minimums range from $80,300+ to $364,800+.
An in-kind subscription means contributing digital assets to receive product shares instead of paying cash. The company based its listed amounts on Oct. 20 market prices and said they can change as prices move. The Grayscale Solana Staking ETF (GSOL) has the lowest listed minimum, while the Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust ETF (BTC) has the highest.
The products span Zcash (ZEC), Sui (SUI), XRP (XRP), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Hyperliquid (HYPE), Avalanche (AVAX), Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE) and Chainlink (LINK).
To make a primary-market subscription, a client needs an authorized participant or a firm connected to one, Grayscale said. The company says product availability and fees apply, but its announcement gives no investor qualification criteria or fee amounts.
Grayscale says shares could fit into brokerage or retirement accounts. It also lists margin and collateral use, as well as pairing shares with listed options, as possible applications. The company argues that using shares may reduce some of the work of holding crypto directly and could lower execution costs.
The company cautions that processing a contribution may involve selling or swapping tokens into a product's underlying asset. Execution may affect the price investors receive, and Grayscale also flags slippage and timing exposure. Shares can trade at a premium or discount to net asset value, while tax treatment is uncertain, particularly when the contributed crypto differs from the product's underlying asset. Grayscale says the shares do not represent direct investment in cryptocurrency and notes risks involving third-party custodians and operating procedures.
The route follows a July 29, 2025, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval allowing authorized participants to create and redeem crypto exchange-traded product shares in kind. The SEC said spot Bitcoin and Ether products it had recently approved had used cash for those transactions.
