ETHE Grayscale Ethereum Trust ETF

Grayscale Investments®, an asset management firm with expertise in crypto investing, offering more than 25 crypto investment products, today announced the launch of Grayscale® Lido DAO Trust and Grayscale® Optimism Trust (collectively the “Trusts”).

Grayscale is excited to offer investors products providing exposure to the governance tokens of Lido DAO, LDO, and Optimism protocol, OP, both offering solutions to expand and improve the Ethereum ecosystem. Layer 2 blockchains, like Optimism, can help scale Ethereum by reducing congestion on Ethereum’s network and providing users with cheaper, more efficient transactions. Meanwhile, liquid staking solutions, like Lido DAO, help secure the Ethereum network and allow for the growth of decentralized finance (DeFi) on Ethereum.

"Lido is helping to democratize staking on Ethereum, and Optimism is critical in allowing Ethereum to scale to compete with newer, faster Layer 1 blockchains, " said Grayscale’s Head of Product & Research, Rayhaneh Sharif-Askary. “Grayscale Lido DAO Trust and Grayscale Optimism Trust provide investors with exposure to protocols helping to increase Ethereum's efficiency, security, scalability, and adoption within the broader DeFi ecosystem – playing a critical role in the Ethereum story.”

Grayscale Lido DAO Trust offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to LDO, the governance token for Lido’s platform. Lido provides a liquid staking solution for the Ethereum network, making staking more accessible, thereby aiming to enhance its security. LDO is part of Grayscale’s Financials Crypto Sector, which encompasses crypto assets that seek to facilitate financial transactions and services.

Grayscale® Optimism Trust offers investors the opportunity to gain exposure to OP, the governance token for the OP collective. Optimism aims to solve liquidity fragmentation through its OP tech stack, an open-source blueprint for Layer 2 blockchains that use Optimistic Rollups to scale and reduce fees. This powers the Superchain, a network of interconnected, independent blockchains designed to enhance scalability. OP is part of Grayscale’s Smart Contract Platforms Crypto Sector, which includes crypto assets designed to support financial transactions and services.

The Trusts are now open for daily subscription by eligible individual and institutional accredited investors.* The Trusts function like Grayscale’s existing suite of single-asset investment trusts, and solely invest in the token underpinning the Lido protocol (LDO) and the Optimism protocol (OP).

This press release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security in any jurisdiction where such an offer or solicitation would be illegal, nor shall there be any sale of any security in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of that jurisdiction.

*Grayscale’s private placements are only available to Accredited Investors as defined in Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Most individuals are not Accredited Investors. An individual must earn more than $200,000 a year (or $300,000 per year with a spouse or spousal equivalent), have a net worth over $1 million either alone or together with a spouse or spousal equivalent, excluding their primary residence, or hold in good standing their Series 7, Series 65, or Series 82 professional certifications. Entities must have $5 million in liquid assets or all beneficial owners must be Accredited Investors.

Private placement securities are speculative, illiquid, and entail a high level of risk, including the risk that an investor could lose their entire investment.

The Lido DAO protocol was only conceived in 2020 and the Lido DAO protocol, stTokens, or the Lido DAO Network’s peer-to-peer liquid staking mechanisms may not function as intended, which could have an adverse impact on the value of LDO and an investment in the shares.

The Optimism protocol was only conceived in 2019 and the Optimism protocol, the Optimism Stack, optimistic rollups, sequencers, or the Superchain may not function as intended, which could have an adverse impact on the value of OP and an investment in the shares.

Grayscale intends to attempt to have shares of new products quoted on a secondary market. However, there is no guarantee that Grayscale will be successful. Although the shares of certain products have been approved for trading on a secondary market, investors in the new products should not assume that the shares will ever obtain such an approval due to a variety of factors, including questions regulators, such as the SEC, FINRA, or other regulatory bodies may have regarding such products. As a result, shareholders of such products should be prepared to bear the risk of investment in the shares indefinitely. To date, certain products have not met their investment objective, and the shares of such products quoted on OTC Markets have not reflected the value of the digital assets held by such products, less such products’ expenses and other liabilities, but have instead traded at a premium over such value, which at times has been substantial. There have also been instances where the shares of certain products have traded at a discount.

Extreme volatility of trading prices that many digital assets have experienced in recent periods and may continue to experience, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Trusts and the shares could lose all or substantially all of their value.

Digital assets represent a new and rapidly evolving industry. The value of the product shares depends on the acceptance of the digital assets, the capabilities and development of blockchain technologies and the fundamental investment characteristics of the digital asset.

About Grayscale Investments® Grayscale enables investors to access the digital economy through a family of future-forward investment products. Founded in 2013, Grayscale has a decade-long track record and deep expertise as an asset management firm focused on crypto investing. Investors, advisors, and allocators turn to Grayscale for single asset, diversified, and thematic exposure. For more information, please follow @Grayscale or visit grayscale.com.

Media ContactJennifer Rosenthalpress@grayscale.com

Client Contact866-775-0313info@grayscale.com