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The fund claims to offer “higher-beta” exposure to the growth of the Solana ecosystem as Grayscale continues to expand its suite of single-asset crypto funds.
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Grayscale Investments has launched an investment fund for the Pyth Network’s native token, PYTH (PYTH), the asset manager said on Feb. 18.
Grayscale Pyth Trust, which is only open to qualified investors, offers exposure to “the governance token powering the Pyth network,” Grayscale said.
Using decentralized oracles, Pyth delivers market data — including for cryptocurrencies, equities and commodities — to upward of 90 different blockchain networks, including Solana.
Oracles connect offchain data sources, such as prices on centralized exchanges, to smart contracts on blockchain networks.
Approximately 95% of decentralized applications on the Solana network rely on Pyth’s price feeds, a testament to Pyth’s “strong market position,” Grayscale said.
“By providing accurate and real-time data feeds, Pyth plays a crucial role in the Solana ecosystem and is poised to thrive alongside Solana’s growth,” Grayscale said.
The trust aims to deliver “higher-beta and higher-upside opportunities associated with the continued growth of Solana,” Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary, Grayscale’s head of product and research, said in a statement.
Launched in 2023, PYTH has a market capitalization of more than $750 million, according to CoinGecko.
Relative performance of PYTH versus SOL. Source: TradingView
Related: Grayscale launches Dogecoin investment fund
Solana’s growing pains
Since 2023, Solana has experienced explosive growth, largely because of surging memecoin trading activity.
In 2024, the total value locked on the chain rose from around $1.4 billion to more than $9 billion, according to DefiLlama. It peaked at upward of $12 billion in January.
Now, insider selling and huge losses for retail traders are souring sentiment Solana memecoins, driving rising short interest in SOL (SOL).
On Feb. 14, Libra (LIBRA), a cryptocurrency seemingly endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, erased some $4.4 billion in market capitalization within hours of launching.
Solana continues to generate more revenue than rival Ethereum despite the memecoin trading slowdown, according to data from DefiLlama.
Expanding the suite of crypto funds
For Grayscale, the new PYTH fund adds to its suite of single-asset crypto investment products.
In January, Grayscale launched an investment fund for Dogecoin (DOGE), the most popular memecoin by market cap.
In December, Grayscale launched two new investment funds for Lido and Optimism’s governance tokens — LDO (LDO) and OP (OP), respectively.
It also added around 35 altcoins — including Worldcoin (WLD) and Rune (RUNE) — to a list of assets that are “under consideration” for future investment products.
The asset manager is best known for its Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds, including the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) and Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE).
Magazine: Influencers shilling memecoin scams face severe legal consequences
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
