Crypto Grayscale AUM Plummets: $12 Billion to $22 Billion Drop – What's Happening?
Investors are watching closely as Grayscale Investment, once the undisputed leader in digital asset fund management, experiences a significant drop in its assets under management (AUM). Today, the largest crypto investment company posted its AUM, revealing a massive decline. This raises questions about the overall state of the crypto market and the future of Grayscale's dominance.
Grayscale's AUM Decline: A Deep Dive
Grayscale started 2025 with approximately $20 billion worth of digital AUM. However, recent figures paint a different picture. A combination of market volatility and investor activity has led to a substantial decrease. Investors using Grayscale investment products sold about 15 billion worth of crypto in 2025.
Even Ethereum-based products suffered the same fate, with AUM falling by 12.2% to $6.75 billion. Furthermore, the AUM of its second-biggest holding, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust, declined from almost $15 billion to $11.6 billion, a 22% drop. These decreases come as the crypto market faces challenging times, marked by a market cap drop of more than $1.3 trillion in the last 10 weeks.
BlackRock Overtakes Grayscale: A New Leader Emerges
According to CoinShares’ Head of Research, James Butterfill, BlackRock has taken over Grayscale as the largest digital asset fund manager in assets under management (AUM) for publicly-listed crypto products. As highlighted by James Butterfill, this shift signals a potential change in the landscape of crypto investment firms.
Why is Grayscale's AUM Falling?
Several factors contribute to the observed drop. While the Bitcoin price increased, so did the Bitcoin ETF's AUM of others, but Grayscale still saw an overall decrease. The announcement of certain verdicts seems to have had a positive effect, as Grayscale's top GBTC Trust Fund increased its AUM after one verdict was announced; however, this was not enough to offset the overall trend.
Is this just a temporary setback, or a sign of deeper issues within Grayscale? Only time will tell. Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.