Osprey Bitcoin Trust made an announcement on March 5 stating that it is currently engaged in discussions regarding a potential sale or merger. In the event that these talks do not yield any positive results, the trust will proceed with deregistration and be liquidated within a period of 180 days.
The company acknowledged that the fractional units of the BTC trust were being traded at a lower value compared to the actual Bitcoin (BTC) value. As a result, Osprey is exploring various options in order to maximize the value for its unitholders. This announcement had a significant impact on the unit price, which saw a notable increase. After closing at $15.98 on March 4, the unit price rose to $20.68 on March 5, before eventually settling at $19.17 at the time of writing.
Greg King, the founder and CEO of Osprey, took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the company’s efforts in achieving positive financial outcomes. On January 11, the company filed Form 8-K with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), informing the agency of its intention to conduct a tender offer to purchase 20% of its units for cash at net asset value, minus taxes and fees. In a post on X on February 9, King mentioned that the tender proposal did not receive the desired response Osprey was hoping for. He did not provide further details about the responses received but mentioned that the company was exploring alternative options.
When it launched its over-the-counter BTC trust in January 2021, Osprey entered the market as a competitor to the much larger Grayscale. The trust aimed to provide accredited investors with exposure to BTC within brokerage accounts. However, the trust faced significant challenges during the crypto winter and had to lay off most of its employees by January 2023.
In January 2023, Osprey filed a lawsuit against Grayscale, alleging that the latter had maintained approximately 99.5% market share in a two-participant market due to false and misleading advertising and promotion.
Aside from the BTC trust, Osprey also offers over-the-counter trusts for Polkadot (DOT) and Solana (SOL), as well as a private placement BNB Chain Trust (BNB).
Magazine: Bitcoin breaks $60K, US gov’t moves seized BTC, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 25 – March 2.