Grayscale Establishes Investment Fund for Lido and Optimism

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Grayscale, the leading digital asset management company, announced plans on December 12 to establish two new investment trusts for Lido (LDO) and Optimism (OP). This move opens opportunities for U.S. investors, both retail and institutional, to gain exposure to these pivotal tokens within the Ethereum ecosystem.

The launch of the Grayscale Lido DAO Trust and the Grayscale Optimism Trust underscores the company’s strategic vision to capitalize on the potential of DeFi technologies and Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solutions. This decision reaffirms Grayscale’s position as a pioneer in the digital asset industry.

These new trusts will operate under a similar framework as Grayscale’s existing products. The company currently manages a diverse portfolio of cryptocurrency funds, including major assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as promising tokens such as Aave, Chainlink, Solana, Sui, and other groundbreaking blockchain projects.

Lido

Lido is the largest liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, enabling users to receive tokens that represent ownership of staked Ether. This approach not only enhances liquidity but also allows these assets to be utilized in other DeFi applications. According to DefiLlama, Lido is currently the largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, with a total value locked (TVL) of nearly $40 billion.

Optimism

Optimism is one of the leading Layer 2 (L2) scaling solutions for Ethereum, holding a TVL of approximately $800 million. Its advanced technology powers not only its own ecosystem but also supports other L2 networks like Base (developed by Coinbase) and Unichain (by Uniswap). Together, these networks form a broader ecosystem referred to as the “superchain” – a vision for sustainable growth and interoperability among Ethereum Layer 2 solutions.

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