Grayscale, a bitcoin asset manager, is launching a new exchange traded funds (ETF) tied to Bitcoin mining, without allowing investors to hold BTC directly. On January 30, the Grayscale Bitcoin Miners ETF (MNRS) will begin trading, according to the firm, in an effort to offer it as a strategic investment product in what is a rapidly expanding sector for crypto.
The purpose of this ETF is to track Bitcoin miners and its infrastructure, and it invests in the firms that are publicly traded in the Indxx Bitcoin Miners Index. This index will monitor the performance of companies who collect a high percentage of their revenue from the BTC mining industry, as well as those which are engaged in mining-related hardware, software and servicing that income.
Bitcoin Miners’ Critical Role
The fund, however, does not invest directly into digital assets or derivatives, but may have such indirect exposure. The role that Bitcoin miners played in continuing to keep the BTC network alive was promoted by Grayscale, focusing on their job in maintaining the BTC network’s security, integrity, and overall functionality.
The firm commented that for investors who prefer to not invest directly in BTC, the ETF represents a solution that allows investment in the mining industry that has historically positively correlated with the BTC price. The new fund is a ‘passively managed, rules-based, and index-tracked fund designed to evolve with the industry,’ said Grayscale’s global head of ETFS, David LaValle. He stressed that it could provide targeted exposure to the global BTC mining sector.
“Bitcoin Miners, the backbone of the network, are well-positioned for significant growth as Bitcoin adoption and usage increases, making MNRS an appealing option for a diverse range of investors.”
As the crypto mining industry faces challenges, the ETF launch comes shortly after mining stocks experienced prolonged losses in late January as a result of the market volatility caused by the DeepSeek AI model frenzy. While BTC soared by 113%, publicly traded miners fared worse, as some stocks slumped as much as 84%, Hashrate Index and Google Finance data show.
Grayscale’s funding of the Satoshi Spot BTC Trust is relatively in line with the company’s efforts to build out crypto financial products in the space, after being successful in converting its Bitcoin Trust into an ETF instrument focused on the spot BTC earlier in the year. The list of crypto-related ETFs looking to offer investors with exposure to the digital asset space has grown with the MNRS ETF now joining the club.
