Grayscale Introduces Dogecoin Trust Amid Rising Altcoin Interest
Meme coins, at first, held no value other than their joke status. Now, the new form of cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in value with many investors taking a large interest in meme coins. According to Technopedia's crypto expert, Kosta Kostadinov, some meme coins are not only high value, but they also stand as cultural icons (source: https://www.techopedia.com/cryptocurrency/best-meme-coins). This rise in value surrounding meme coins can be attributed to the growing traction in the crypto market, altering the way investors view cryptocurrencies completely.
Who is Grayscale?
A testament to this statement is Grayscale, a digital asset management company, introducing its new Dogecoin Trust at the end of January 2025. The company was established in 2013 and has previously introduced trust funds for both Ethereum and Bitcoin. Of course, showcasing their confidence in Dogecoin (DOGE) and the altcoin market was a bold move on Grayscale's part, but seeks to expose accredited investors to DOGE as a digital asset. As it stands, although Dogecoin has secured a top spot in the category of meme coins, Pepe Coin and Shiba Inu have also succeeded in gaining industry attention.
How is Dogecoin Performing?
As of this week, Dogecoin has seen a small increase since its previous close, trading at a rough amount of $0.25 and an upward trend of 0.024%. Where numbers are concerned, the altcoin has seen an intraday trading low of $0.2439 and a high of $0.2618 despite having seen a large 22% decline earlier this week. This means there is hope for potential consolidation as the price of DOGE has finally stabilized, but there is no indicator of how high the price of Dogecoin may climb, with the odds somewhat running against its dollar-per-token price.
However, many crypto whales have shown a strong interest in Dogecoin, aiming to accumulate as many crypto tokens as possible. Some have been able to influence the market value of cryptocurrencies in general by selling all their tokens at once to repurchase them. This week has seen a 21% price surge after $400 million DOGE has already been accumulated by whales, indicating the growing confidence in Dogecoin's future.
Memecoin ETFs Emergence & Speculation Concerns
Grayscale's investment in Dogecoin may just have been the catalyst for meme coins to grow going forward. As it stands, the meme coin market has experienced significant growth in interest from several digital asset managers in the U.S., including Spirit Blockchain Capital. The company acquired a large holding of Dogecoin last year after being inspired by MicroStrategy's large investment in Bitcoin. And now, Grayscale is following suit, with the result of this being that U.S. asset managers are preparing to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to invest in meme coins.
ETP providers such as Osprey Funds and Rex Financial have taken action to create meme coin-based ETFs by filing with the SEC. These ETP providers would like to create a BONK ETF, and an additional $TRUMP ETF, whereas Bitwise Asset Management has made plans to launch a Dogecoin ETF, indicating the significant interest in meme coins. However, this may prove difficult with the SEC only approving ETFs that directly invest in Bitcoin and Ether, making for yet another bold move in the cryptocurrency sector.
Naturally, this has sparked much debate amongst industry experts and speculations on how this trend affects trading have surfaced. For example, Morningstar's Bryan Armour, director of passive strategies research for North America, has compared the nature of these investments to that of gambling which can be seen as a direct criticism of these asset managers. However, the SEC has yet to approve these ETFs, with many industry players anticipating the decision to gauge their stance on digital assets under their new leader, Paul Atkins, a pro-crypto businessman.
Conclusion
Dogecoin has sparked an evolution in meme-based cryptocurrency's standing and gained the meme coin market more traction. With Grayscale's investment in Dogecoin through their new trust fund and the push for the creation of meme coin ETFs, DOGE has secured itself as a key player in meme-based cryptocurrency. Of course, these developments are a further testament to the rapid growth in the acceptance of meme coins and the potential for the institutional adoption of DOGE and other popular meme coins.
