Grayscale Opens Horizen Trust to Qualified Investors

Grayscale announced that HZEN, its Horizen Trust, is now open to accredited investors. The firm has maintained this Trust for several years, but it has not been available OTC before now.

Horizen recently underwent its final halving, and the general crypto bull market has given it a new bull rally. However, its token value is still a far cry from its 2021 peak, and a full recovery seems difficult.

Grayscale Horizen Trust

According to a recent blog post from Grayscale, HZEN is now available to accredited investors. This Trust product is based on Horizen (ZEN), a zero-knowledge cryptography network.

Grayscale has maintained HZEN for several years, although it was not technically open to investors. Based on the company’s statements, there are a few clues to why it began trading.

“Horizen underwent its last halving before a major transition in the project’s tokenomics. After this major milestone, there will be no more halvings, as the new model introduces a declining emission rate. Grayscale Horizen Trust offers investors exposure to ZEN without the hassle of directly buying, storing, or safekeeping it,” the firm said on social media.

ZEN is a minable token that operates on a halving system similar to Bitcoin. It peaked in 2021 when it was one of the space’s largest gainers.

However, it suffered an extreme crash that same year, barely stabilizing by 2022. Horizen has enjoyed a new rally from the bull market; between this and the last halving, Grayscale might anticipate future profits.

Currently, the ZEN token’s value is about 10% of its 2021 peak, yet this bull market has recovered some forward momentum. Perhaps this and the final halving have generated a sense of stability.

For example, Grayscale publicly offered several other Trust products before Horizen. Last week, it launched Trusts based on Lido DAO and Optimism, and also launched an XLM Trust shortly beforehand. Additionally, the firm is pursuing new ETF offerings, with a Solana ETF application two weeks ago. Publicly traded HZEN could simply be another experiment.

On the other hand, Grayscale’s ETFs are facing challenges. Earlier this month, it sold $150 million in Bitcoin despite the asset’s growing value.

BlackRock overshadowed its Bitcoin ETF very early this year, and its subsequent ETF offerings have also proved inadequate. Although this explanation is plausible, it’s difficult to say what Grayscale has planned for Horizen yet.