Cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale Investments now holds more than 500,000 BTC, worth over $8.54 million, in its Bitcoin Trust product, GBTC. The figure is equal to over 2.5% of BTC’s circulating supply.

According to data shared by Grayscale, the firm surpassed the 500,000 bitcoins under custody mark on November 16, presumably as its inflows keep on growing thanks to demand from institutional investors looking to gain exposure to cryptoassets.

As CryptoGlobe reported, last month Grayscale revealed Q3 was a record quarter for the firm with inflows above $1 billion. The report detailed that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has kept on leading investment demand, with inflows of $719.3 million in Q3 2020. The trust’s assets under management grew 147% year-to-date.

Grayscale pointed out that these three products saw inflows increase by more than 1,400% quarter-over-quarter, with the majority of the funds to all of its products coming from institutional investors, which accounted for 81% of the investment in Q3.

Grayscale’s GBTC is appealing to institutional investors, as it gives them exposure to the flagship cryptocurrency without them having to manage a BTC wallet or its private keys. Grayscale manages the fund for a 2% annual fee.

GBTC is currently trading at a premium over the price of BTC, as each GBTC share has 0.00095247 BTC, valued at about $16.2 at press time. Available data shows each share is currently trading at $18.86.

It’s worth noting the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) has also been seeing investor interest grow. Barry Silbert, co-founder and CEO of the Digital Currency Group, of which Grayscale is a subsidiary, revealed on social media that ETHE holds 2% of Ethereum’s circulating supply

Featured image via Unsplash.