# Grayscale Decentraland Trust (MANA) Grayscale Decentraland Trust (MANA) is an Asset Manager based in Stamford, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Asset Manager - **Headquarters:** Stamford, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Stamford, CT, United States - **Founded:** 2013 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** grayscale.com ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Grayscale Investments, founded in 2013 by Digital Currency Group under Barry Silbert, established itself as the largest crypto asset manager globally by creating a suite of publicly quoted trusts that hold digital currencies. The Decentraland Trust (MANA) is one of several single-asset products Grayscale operates, alongside offerings tied to Filecoin, Chainlink, and Basic Attention Token. Grayscale's parent, DCG, also owns Genesis Trading and the crypto news outlet CoinDesk, forming a vertically integrated blockchain conglomerate that spans asset management, brokerage, and media. The trust passively holds MANA, the ERC-20 token that governs Decentraland's virtual reality platform where users buy and sell digital land parcels. Grayscale does not actively manage the portfolio — it accumulates tokens in custody with Coinbase Custody and issues shares that trade on OTC markets. Each share represents a fractional claim on the trust's net asset value. The structure's 2.5% management fee, significantly above traditional ETF expense ratios, reflects the operational burden of secure custody and regulatory compliance in the crypto space without a redemption mechanism to arbitrage premiums or discounts to NAV. Leadership rests with CEO Michael Sonnenshein, who took over Grayscale in 2021 from founder Barry Silbert. The firm's broader product architecture spans the flagship Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which converted to an ETF in 2024 after a court victory against the SEC, and the Ethereum Trust, which followed suit. Grayscale employs a strategy of wrapping crypto tokens into SEC-reporting company shells, making them accessible to retirement accounts and institutional mandates that cannot hold tokens directly. The Decentraland Trust remains a private placement for accredited investors only, with a six-month holding period before secondary market trading. Structurally, the trust differs from a conventional ETF because it lacks an authorized participant redemption program — shares cannot be created or destroyed in response to market demand. This creates persistent discounts or premiums to NAV, which Grayscale historically mitigated through share buyback programs and, for larger products, conversion to ETFs. For niche metaverse-focused trusts like MANA, no conversion path exists. The board exercises sole discretion over any distribution, buyback, or liquidation of MANA holdings, meaning investors are entirely reliant on management's capital allocation decisions and the trust's long-term viability. ## Sectors - Crypto & Digital Assets - Metaverse & Gaming ## People - Barry Silbert — Founder, Digital Currency Group - Michael Sonnenshein — CEO, Grayscale Investments ## Questions ### What exactly does the Grayscale Decentraland Trust hold? The trust holds MANA tokens exclusively — the native ERC-20 cryptocurrency of Decentraland, a virtual world platform built on Ethereum. Custody is handled by Coinbase Custody, a qualified custodian regulated under New York trust law. The trust does not own any other crypto assets, equity in the Decentraland Foundation, or virtual land parcels. ### How does this trust differ from the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC)? Both are passive single-asset vehicles charging a 2.5% annual fee, but GBTC converted to a spot Bitcoin ETF in January 2024, allowing authorized participants to create and redeem shares at NAV. The Decentraland Trust has no ETF conversion path — it remains a private placement with no redemption mechanism, meaning shares can trade at persistent premiums or discounts to the underlying MANA value. ### Who runs investment decisions for the Decentraland Trust? There are no active investment decisions — the trust accumulates MANA tokens and holds them passively. Grayscale's CEO Michael Sonnenshein and the firm's board of directors exercise discretion over corporate actions, including any potential liquidation or distribution of MANA. No portfolio manager actively trades the underlying token. ### What is the fee structure? The trust charges a 2.5% annual management fee, calculated daily based on the trust's net asset value and paid in MANA tokens. This is substantially higher than traditional equity ETF fees but comparable to other Grayscale single-asset trusts and reflective of crypto custody costs and the absence of an easy arbitrage mechanism. ### What is the relationship between Grayscale and Digital Currency Group? Grayscale Investments is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG), the crypto conglomerate founded by Barry Silbert in 2015. DCG also owns Genesis Trading (a crypto brokerage), Foundry (a mining and staking business), and previously owned CoinDesk. Grayscale operates independently under CEO Michael Sonnenshein, with DCG as its sole shareholder. ## Related profiles - [Bluerock Private Real Estate Fund](https://altss.com/profile/bluerock-private-real-estate-fund) - [Parabilis Medicines](https://altss.com/profile/parabilis-medicines-inc) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/grayscale-decentraland-trust-mana Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology