Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg files to sell GXRP shares as the XRP ETF loses market share to newer spot ETFs. Here's what it means for XRP investors.
Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to sell 2,611 shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust ETF (GXRP), becoming the latest senior executive to trim exposure to the fund.
The move comes as GXRP continues to lose assets to competing U.S. spot XRP ETFs.
According to a Form 144 filed with the SEC on July 28, Mintzberg intends to sell 2,611 GXRP shares through NYSE Arca using Cantor Fitzgerald as the broker. Based on an estimated sale price of $20.45 per share, the transaction is valued at approximately $53,395.
The shares were originally acquired on Oct. 3, 2024, through a privately negotiated purchase before the Grayscale XRP Trust was converted into a spot ETF and listed on NYSE Arca.
Importantly, a Form 144 is not confirmation that the shares have already been sold. Instead, it notifies regulators of an insider's intention to sell securities within a specified period.
Despite the filing, Mintzberg will continue to hold approximately 2.84 million GXRP shares, indicating that the proposed sale represents only a small portion of his overall position.
The CEO's filing has also drawn attention to a much bigger trend, the steady decline in GXRP's outstanding shares.
Regulatory filings from January showed the fund had roughly 5.79 million shares outstanding. Mintzberg's latest filing updates that figure to approximately 2.84 million shares, representing a decline of nearly 51% in just six months.
The drop reflects continued ETF redemptions, where investors sell their ETF holdings back to the fund. When redemptions exceed new investments, Grayscale cancels outstanding ETF shares and sells a corresponding amount of the underlying XRP, reducing both the fund's size and assets under management.
At the current share count and market price, GXRP now manages roughly $58 million in assets, highlighting how much the fund has contracted since its launch.
The shrinking share count also reflects increasing competition across the U.S. spot XRP ETF market. Since multiple spot XRP ETFs entered the market, investors have increasingly shifted toward newer products, reducing Grayscale's dominance.
Today, the overall U.S. spot XRP ETF sector manages more than $971 million in net assets, while GXRP accounts for only around 6% of that total.
At the same time, cumulative inflows into U.S. XRP ETFs have surpassed $1.5 billion, suggesting investors haven't lost interest in XRP itself. Instead, many appear to be favoring competing funds over Grayscale's offering.
The latest filing also follows similar insider sales earlier this year. Digital Currency Group founder Barry Silbert filed to sell GXRP shares on Jan. 26, while Grayscale Chief Legal Officer Craig Salm submitted a similar filing on Jan. 23, when the ETF was trading near $37 per share.
Although Grayscale has not commented on the insider transactions, the series of filings has attracted attention as the fund continues to lose market share.
Mintzberg's planned sale is relatively small and is unlikely to have a direct impact on XRP's market price. Despite the broader market sell-off, XRP gained around 2.5% over the past 24 hours and was trading near $1.06.
For now, Mintzberg's filing appears to be more of a corporate disclosure than a market-moving event.
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