Grayscale transferred $1 billion worth of Ether to Coinbase, signaling the asset manager’s preparation for the launch of the spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
According to blockchain data, Grayscale, which will be among the first ETF issuers, sent 292,262 Ether (ETH) worth over $1 billion to the Coinbase Prime deposit wallet on July 22, according to blockchain data.
Following the transfer, approximately 10% of the 292,000 ETH was transferred from the Coinbase hot wallet to the Grayscale Mini Trust, or wallet "0xab3," according to a July 23 X post by data provider iChaininfo.
The billion-dollar transfer came a day before the launch of the first batch of US spot Ether ETFs, which will begin trading on July 23. The large transfers suggest that Grayscale is pre-seeding funds to prepare for the ETF launch.
Coinbase exchange will act as the custodian for eight out of the nine newly approved Ether ETFs. The exchange is already the custodian powering 10 out of the 11 existing spot Bitcoin ETFs, according to a July 22 announcement.
