Investors are increasing the pressure to acquire shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC) with a bid for 5,000 at $35 per share by the Maxim Group. Self-described as a full-service investment bank and wealth management firm, Maxim has taken the most aggressive approach as of yet to get investors in GBTC to sell their shares.
In the beginning of April, trading began for shares of the Bitcoin Investment Trust, one of the products rolled out by Barry Silbert’s new Grayscale Investments. Despite the fact that trading was possible, none have been executed.
The rules put forth by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) stated that only those who have held shares in BIT for longer than a year will have the option to sell their shares on the OTCQX exchange.
There has been concern that few investors would be willing to liquidate their positions because it would be at a significant loss. Considering the rule of one year, if an investor were to have bought shares on April 1, 2014, he or she would have bought with the value of a bitcoin at $481.20. Each share of GBTC is equal to roughly 0.1 bitcoin; therefore, a bid of $35 per share is only equal to $350 per bitcoin.
This is significant premium over the current price of bitcoin, but it still at least $130 per bitcoin less than what an investor who is allowed to liquidate would have paid. However, BIT launched in September 2013, when the price of bitcoin was $130 per coin, so there could be investors looking to sell.
At present, the other firms that have made bids to acquire shares of GBTC are Puma Capital, bidding for 100 shares at $38 per share, Canaccord Genuity, bidding for 100 shares at $37.50 per share, Citadel Securities, bidding for 100 shares at $36 per share, and KCG Americas, bidding for 100 shares at $35.55 a share.
Bitcoin Magazine has reached out to Maxim Group for comment.
Photo by Rafael Matsunaga / CC BY 2.0
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