Grayscale Investments has launched the Chainlink exchange-traded product GLNK, which began trading on NYSE Arca and opened with $64 million in assets under management, including $42 million of inflows on its first day. The physically backed ETP holds LINK tokens directly and is designed to give institutional and brokerage-channel investors exposure to Chainlink without the need to manage wallets or private keys.
Institutional Access, Simplified Custody
GLNK provides a familiar, regulated route for institutions that want LINK exposure through traditional brokerage accounts. By holding LINK on behalf of investors, Grayscale eliminates the operational burdens of self-custody—an important consideration for asset managers and fiduciaries that face strict custody and compliance requirements.
Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, framed GLNK as a bridge between institutional capital and Chainlink’s on-chain infrastructure, describing the product as a first-of-its-kind U.S. ETP to hold LINK directly.
Market Effects and Early Metrics
The product’s debut quickly affected market activity. Reporting indicates a 180% rise in LINK trading volume around the launch and a roughly 6% price uptick amid otherwise tepid market conditions. Early inflows mirror patterns seen when other regulated products—most notably Bitcoin ETFs—attracted concentrated institutional capital and shifted price-discovery dynamics.
Analysts suggest GLNK may gradually tilt LINK’s liquidity and price sensitivity toward institutional flows rather than purely on-chain demand. If historical precedents hold, large, sustained inflows into a regulated product can become a dominant price driver independent of token utility metrics.
What Comes Next
Market watchers will be tracking sustained AUM growth, redemption behavior, and whether GLNK draws capital away from on-chain liquidity pools. The ETP’s performance, and how quickly it attracts capital beyond the initial surge, will determine its longer-term impact on LINK’s market structure and price formation.