A new broker-dealer unit has been introduced by Grayscale Investments, the company that manages investments in digital assets and is the owner of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (OTCMKTS: GBTC). This entity will now construct and distribute investor shares of Grayscale Investments’ flagship crypto trust.

The newest affiliate of the Trust is Grayscale Securities, a fully owned subsidiary of Grayscale. The platform will take over from Genesis Global Trading, a sister company of Grayscale.

Both firms are owned by crypto-focused venture capital company Digital Currency Group.

Termination of agreement with Genesis

Grayscale Securities is a Delaware limited liability company registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, according to a statement released on Monday, 3 October 2022. (FINRA).

According to a filing with the SEC, as of October 3, 2022, Grayscale Securities is the authorized participant, distributor, and marketer of the bitcoin trust shares.

With the creation of Grayscale and its subsequent use as a distributor and marketer, Genesis’s contract, which had been in effect since November 15th, 2019, has been canceled. Genesis was no longer included in the company’s list of authorized participants after a contract was terminated on January 11, 2019.

However, the agreement states that Genesis will continue to be a Liquidity Provider of the Trust while Grayscale Securities assumes the two positions.

In late June this year, the SEC turned down Grayscale’s request to turn its GBTC into a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF). According to RichTv, Grayscale sued the agency over the denial, and its chief legal officer Craig Salm warned that the case might take up to two years to resolve.