Alameda Research has withdrawn its lawsuit against Grayscale Investments, one that sought injunctive relief against practices that diminished the value of FTX debtors’ assets.
In contravention of trust agreements, Alameda Research filed suit for a court order prohibiting the imposition of management fees. As of the lawsuit’s filing, the aggregate value of those fees had surpassed $1.3 billion.
According to the lawsuit, a “self-imposed redemption ban” allegedly discourages shareholders from redeeming shares in the Grayscale Bitcoin (GBTC) and Ethereum Trusts.
“FTX said in a statement at the time of filing, “Had Grayscale decreased its fees and ceased improperly preventing redemptions, the FTX Debtors‘ shares would be worth a minimum of $550 million, or roughly 90% more than their current value.”
The lawsuit also identified the CEO of Grayscale, Michael Sonnenshein, the parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and its CEO, Barry Silbert. December marked Silbert’s resignation from the Grayscale board. A Grayscale spokesperson provided the following written statement to Cointelegraph on January 22:
“We are pleased to confirm that Alameda Research, FTX’s affiliated hedge fund, has voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against Grayscale. Alameda’s voluntary dismissal underscores Grayscale’s position that this legal action was entirely without merit.”
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission approved on January 10 the conversion of GBTC into a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF). The management fee of 1.5% continues to be relatively costly compared to its competitors.
Since its conversion to a spot ETF, substantial outflows have occurred in GBTC, resulting in a nearly $5 billion decline in assets under management to $23.7 billion on January 18 and defying the upward trend of most spot Bitcoin ETFs.