Osprey Polkadot Trust Arrives as Institutional Interest in Altcoins Swells

The newest investment trust tracking polkadot echoes other moves by the fund manager to make cryptos accessible via traditional equity markets and satisfy growing investor demand as interest in ETPs mounts.

Low-Fee Offering to be Launched on OTCQX Market

Bitcoin may have been the first crypto to make a splash in traditional financial markets via CME futures listing and the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, but other coins are quickly following suit as investors increasingly appreciate the utility of blockchain-based tokens. The fanfare that has accompanied the rise of polkadot (DOT) has not been lost on more traditional financial markets as new products arrive to help investors gain exposure to the increasingly prominent altcoin.

Polkadot, created by Ethereum co-founder Dr. Gavin Wood, aims to build a much more scalable, secure, and affordable framework of interconnected chains to support dApps by utilizing the Substrate development framework. So far, the idea’s success is abundantly apparent, with DOT attracting high-profile investors, projects, and even rising to the 8th most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

Growing support and compatibility for services like decentralized finance (Defi) alongside tools designed to facilitate seamless app migration have increasingly positioned this emergent blockchain as a serious challenger to Ethereum’s hegemony in the dApp space. This expansive utility has captured the attention of fund managers, and Osprey Funds is already capitalizing on this interest after launching the Polkadot Trust.

Accredited Investors Invited as the Push for a Retail Product Persists

Unlike the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust which suffers from high fees and extensive premiums relative to the underlying asset, Osprey Funds has risen to prominence thanks to its much more affordable fee 0.49% annual fee structure for its own Bitcoin Trust. The trust model makes investing in altcoins much more accessible for institutional investors that want to shy away from directly owning or holding cryptos.

Polkadot Trust will list on the OTCQX market after already raising more than $10 million through private placements, and be accessible to investors for a minimum stake of $25,000 and a 2.50% annual fee. Osprey’s tie-up with Coinbase to handle DOT custody ensures that a trustworthy partner is part of the overall framework, adding both credibility and reliability to the equation.

The institutional interest in Polkadot is already there, especially given exposure by big-name banks to the existing Six Swiss-listed Polkadot ETP (exchange-traded product). Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, ICAP, and UBS have already reportedly bought shares listed by fund manager 21Shares. Now, accredited US-based investors will be able to add allocations of this blockchain’s native token to their own portfolios.

According to recent comments from Osprey’s CEO Greg King, this latest move represents another major step towards eventually bringing exchange-traded products (ETPs) to US exchanges. From his perspective, this will help broaden crypto’s appeal, help lower the entry point, and also assist ordinary retail investors seeking to gain exposure to this space through retirement funds that can’t currently be directly allocated to altcoins and Bitcoin.