Grayscale Files AAVE ETF, Boosting Competition in DeFi Investment Market

Grayscale Investments has officially filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to convert its AAVE trust into an ETF. The February 13, 2026, filing marks a move by Grayscale to expand its offerings and become even more competitive in the dynamic crypto market.

Source: SEC

This comes after the major institutional crypto asset manager, Bitwise, filed its own proposal for the AAVE ETF last December. It’s also important to note that Bitwise reportedly filed paperwork for 11 crypto-focused funds last December.

Source: SEC

Grayscale Targets DeFi With AAVE

AAVE is the native token of the Aave protocol, which is one of the widely used DeFi platforms for lending and borrowing cryptocurrencies. It currently has a market capitalization of $1.8 billion and is currently trading at $128.4, up 14.14% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap. It reached its all-time high of $661.69 in April 2021.

Source: CoinMarketCap

The decision by Grayscale to launch an ETF based on the AAVE token aims to meet the increasing demand by investors for access to the DeFi space. In the European region, the AAVE token has already been made available through the 21Shares AAVE ETP and the Global X AAVE ETP, which are listed on the European exchanges.

Grayscale’s History with ETFs

It also has an established track record in transforming closed-end funds into ETFs, including successfully navigating legal hurdles with the SEC. It also successfully contested the conversion of its Bitcoin Trust, which provided an important precedent for U.S.-based spot Bitcoin ETFs.

The Grayscale AAVE ETF will incur a 2.5% sponsor fee on NAV, payable in AAVE tokens. The investment firm will also use Coinbase as the prime broker and custodian and target the NYSE Arca.

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Recent Operational Changes at Grayscale

This is because Grayscale plans to convert its NEAR-linked closed-end trust into an ETF, which will boost the investment rivalry in the crypto space. The Grayscale NEAR Trust is a vehicle that provides institutional and accredited investors with a regulated, indirect way of investing in the NEAR Protocol token.

It intends to rename the product Grayscale NEAR Trust ETF and move its listing from over-the-counter (OTC) markets to the NYSE Arca exchange.

The trust had approximately $900,000 in its assets at the time of the announcement. The trust’s shares, previously listed on the OTC markets, had previously traded at premiums and discounts relative to net asset value (NAV), V, with significant fluctuations.

Grayscale continues the expansion of its list of regulated crypto investment products, and investors are able to access new DeFi options while remaining compliant with U.S. regulations. The proposed ETF for AAVE is another major move by the company in its mission to lead the charge in the development of new, compliant crypto investment options.

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