Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Market Information
Prior to October 3, 2022 Shares were distributed by Genesis, acting as the sole Authorized Participant, through sales in private placement transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to Rule 506(c) thereunder. From October 3, 2022 to January 10, 2024, Grayscale Securities was the only acting Authorized Participant of the Trust. On or after January 10, 2024, the Sponsor, on behalf of the Trust, and the Transfer Agent entered into Participant Agreements with a number of unaffiliated Authorized Participants in connection with the approval of NYSE Arca’s application under Rule 19b-4 of the Exchange Act. As of the date of this Annual Report, Jane Street Capital, LLC, Virtu Americas LLC, Macquarie Capital (USA) Inc., ABN AMRO Clearing USA LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC have agreed to act as Authorized Participants. The Shares are listed on NYSE Arca under the ticker symbol “GBTC.”
Holders of Record
As of December 31, 2023, there were approximately 46 holders of record. This includes Cede & Co. as nominee for DTC for the Shares traded on OTCQX, but not its direct participants. Therefore, this number does not include the individual holders who have bought Shares on OTCQX or transferred their eligible Shares to their brokerage accounts. Because most of the Trust’s Shares are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, we are unable to estimate the total number of shareholders represented by these record holders.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Shares
As of December 31, 2023, the Registrant has distributed 692,370,100 Shares at varying prices determined by reference to the NAV per Share to selected “accredited investors,” within the meaning of Rule 501 of Regulation D under the Securities Act. The Shares were sold in connection with an ongoing offering pursuant to Rule 506(c) of Regulation D under the Securities Act. Genesis acted as the Authorized Participant with respect to these distributions. In exchange for these sales, the Trust received an aggregate of 694,811.86692579 Bitcoins. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the Registrant did not distribute any Shares. Because Shares have been, and continue to be, created and issued on a periodic basis, a “distribution,” as such term is used in the Securities Act, may be occurring from time to time. As a result, the Authorized Participant facilitating the creation of Shares and acting as a distributor and marketer during any such period may be deemed an “underwriter” under Section 2(a)(11) of the Securities Act. No underwriting discounts or commissions were paid to the Authorized Participant with respect to such sales.
Purchases of Equity Securities
Purchases of equity securities by the issuer and affiliated purchasers —The table below sets forth information regarding open market purchases of Shares of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (BTC) (OTCQX: GBTC) by DCG, the parent company of the Sponsor, on a monthly basis during the three months ended December 31, 2023:
Period
(a) Total
Number
of Shares
of GBTC
Purchased
(b) Average
Price Paid
per Share
of GBTC
(c) Total
Number of
Shares
Purchased
as Part of
Publicly
Announced
Plans or
Programs 1
(d)
Approximate
Dollar Value
of Shares that
May Yet Be
Purchased
Under the
Plans or
Programs
(in millions)
October 1, 2023 – October 31, 2023
—
$
—
—
$
428.2
November 1, 2023 – November 30, 2023
—
—
—
428.2
December 1, 2023 – December 31, 2023
—
—
—
428.2
Total
—
$
—
—
$
428.2
(1)
On March 10, 2021, the Board approved the purchase by DCG, the parent company of the Sponsor, of up to $250 million worth of Shares of the Trust. Subsequently, DCG authorized such purchase. On April 30, 2021, the Board approved the purchase by DCG of up to $750 million worth of Shares of the Trust. This increased DCG’s prior authorization to purchase up to $250 million work of Shares by $500 million. On October 20, 2021, the Board approved the purchase by DCG of up to $1 billion worth of Shares of the Trust. This increased DCG’s prior authorization to purchase up to $750 million worth of Shares by $250 million. On March 2, 2022, the Board approved the purchase by DCG, the parent company of the Sponsor, of up to an aggregate total of $200 million worth of Shares of the Trust and shares of any of the following five investment products the Sponsor also acts as the sponsor and manager of, including Grayscale Bitcoin Cash Trust (BCH) (OTCQX: BCHG), Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund LLC (OTCQX: GDLC), Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETH) (OTCQX: ETHE), Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC) (OTCQX: ETCG), and Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust (XLM) (OTCQX: GXLM). This increased DCG’s prior authorization to purchase up to $1 billion worth of Shares by up to a maximum of $200 million. Subsequently, DCG authorized such purchase. The Share purchase authorization does not obligate DCG to acquire any specific number of Shares in any period, and may be expanded, extended modified, or discontinued at any time. From March 10, 2021 through June 30, 2022, DCG purchased a total of $771.8 million worth of Shares of the Trust under this authorization. From July 1, 2022 through February 19, 2024, DCG had not purchased any Shares of the Trust under this authorization.
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Item 6. [ Reserved]
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