Annual Report (10-k)

Item 1. Business

Overview of the Fund and the Shares

The Fund is a Cayman Islands limited liability company that was formed on January 25, 2018. The Fund’s purpose is to hold the top digital assets by market capitalization that meet certain criteria set by the Fund. The Fund issues Shares, which represent equal, fractional undivided interests in the profits, losses, distributions, capital and assets of, and ownership of, the Fund, on a periodic basis to certain “accredited investors” within the meaning of Rule 501(a) of Regulation D under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Fund issues Shares only in one or more whole Baskets. A Basket equals 100 Shares. See “—Description of Creation of Shares.”

Shares purchased in the private placement are restricted securities that may not be resold except in transactions exempt from registration under the Securities Act and state securities laws, and any such transaction must be approved in advance by the Manager. In determining whether to grant approval, the Manager will specifically look at whether the conditions of Rule 144 under the Securities Act, including the requisite holding period thereunder, and any other applicable laws have been met. Any attempt to sell Shares without the approval of the Manager in its sole discretion will be void ab initio. See “—Description of the Shares—Transfer Restrictions” for more information.

The Shares are quoted on OTCQX under the ticker symbol “GDLC.” Pursuant to Rule 144, the minimum holding period for Shares purchased in the private placement is six months. Shareholders that purchased Shares directly from the Fund and have held them for the requisite holding period in accordance with Rule 144 under the Securities Act may sell their Shares on OTCQX upon receiving approval from the Manager. Investors may also choose to purchase Shares on OTCQX. Shares purchased on OTCQX are not restricted. We intend to seek to list the Shares on NYSE Arca sometime in the future. Any such listing will require NYSE Arca to first receive approval from the SEC. As a result, there can be no guarantee that we will be successful in listing the Shares on NYSE Arca. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares—There is no guarantee that an active trading market for the Shares will continue to develop.”

At this time, the Fund is not operating a redemption program for the Shares and therefore Shares are not redeemable by the Fund. In addition, the Fund may from time to time halt creations for extended periods of time, for a variety of reasons, including in connection with forks, airdrops and other similar occurrences. As a result of these factors in addition to the holding period under Rule 144, Authorized Participants are not able to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities created when the market value of the Shares deviates from the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share, which may cause the Shares to trade at a substantial premium over, or substantial discount to, the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share.

Subject to receipt of regulatory approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and approval by the Manager in its sole discretion, the Fund may in the future operate a redemption program. Because the Fund does not believe that the SEC would, at this time, entertain an application for the waiver of rules needed in order to operate an ongoing redemption program, the Fund currently has no intention of seeking regulatory approval from the SEC to operate an ongoing redemption program. Further, the Fund is registered and regulated as a private fund under the Private Funds Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “Private Funds Act”). The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (the “Authority”) has supervisory and enforcement powers to ensure the Fund’s compliance with the Private Funds Act. Before the Fund is able to effect open redemptions as an open-ended Fund, it will be required to meet the requirements of, and register with, the Authority and be regulated as a mutual fund under the Mutual Funds Law (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands. Even if such relief is sought in the future, no assurance can be given as to the timing of such relief or that such relief will be granted. If such relief is granted and the Manager approves a redemption program, the Shares will be redeemable in accordance with the provisions of the Second Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Agreement (the “LLC Agreement”) and the relevant Participant Agreement. Although the Manager cannot predict with certainty what effect, if any, the operation of a redemption program would have on the trading price of the Shares, a redemption program would allow Authorized Participants to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities created when the market value of the Shares deviates from the value of the Fund’s digital assets, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, which may have the effect of reducing any premium at which the Shares trade on OTCQX over such value or cause the Shares to trade at a discount to such value from time to time.

For a discussion of risks relating to the deviation in the value of the Shares from the Digital Asset Holdings per Share, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares—Because of the holding period under Rule 144, the lack of an ongoing redemption program and the Fund’s ability to halt creations from time to time, there is no arbitrage mechanism to keep the value of the Shares closely linked to the Digital Asset Reference Rates and the Shares have historically traded at a substantial premium over, or substantial discount to, the Digital Asset Holdings per Share,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Digital Assets—The trading prices of many digital assets, including the Fund Components, have experienced extreme volatility in recent periods and may continue to do so. Extreme volatility in the future, including further declines in the trading prices of digital assets could have a

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material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Digital Asset Markets—The value of the Shares relates directly to the value of the digital assets then held by the Fund, the value of which may be highly volatile and subject to fluctuations due to a number of factors,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to Digital Asset Markets—Due to the unregulated nature and lack of transparency surrounding the operations of Digital Asset Exchanges, they may experience fraud, security failures or operational problems, which may adversely affect the value of digital assets and, consequently, the value of the Shares,” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares—The Shares may trade at a price that is at, above or below the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share as a result of the non-current trading hours between OTCQX and the Digital Asset Exchange Market.”

On July 21, 2020, the Fund registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority under the Private Funds Act (reference number: 1688783).

Investment Objective

The Fund’s investment objective is for the value of the Shares (based on Digital Asset Holdings per Share) to reflect the value of the digital assets held by the Fund (the “Fund Components”) as determined by reference to their respective Digital Asset Reference Rates and weightings within the Fund, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities. Prior to July 1, 2022 and for the year ended June 30, 2022, the Fund sought to hold Fund Components with market capitalizations that collectively constituted at least 70% of the market capitalization of the entire digital asset market (the “Target Coverage Ratio”) and determined the Fund Components by reference to fund construction criteria that consisted of market capitalization, liquidity and coverage criteria established by the Manager (the “Target Coverage Ratio Methodology”). Through the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, the Fund sought to (i) provide large-cap coverage of the digital asset market; (ii) minimize transaction costs through low turnover of the Fund’s portfolio; and (iii) create a portfolio that could be replicated through direct purchases in the Digital Asset Market.

Effective July 1, 2022, the Manager replaced the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology as the fund construction criteria and will no longer seek to hold Fund Components meeting the Target Coverage Ratio. Instead, the Fund Components will consist of the digital assets that make up the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index (the “DLCS”), as rebalanced from time to time, subject to the Manager’s discretion to exclude individual digital assets in certain cases. The DLCS is designed and managed by CoinDesk Indices, Inc. (in this capacity, the “Index Provider”), a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, Inc. (“DCG”) and an affiliate of the Manager, which is also a subsidiary of DCG, and the Fund.

The digital assets that make up the DLCS (the “Index Components”) are drawn from the universe (the “Index Universe”) of investable digital assets meeting the following criteria, (i) the digital asset must be ranked in the top 200 in the Index Provider’s Digital Asset Classification Standard (“DACS”) report, (ii) custodian services for the digital asset must be available from Coinbase Custody, a division of Coinbase Global Inc., and must be accessible to U.S. investors, (iii) the digital asset must not be a stablecoin or categorized as a meme coin as determined by the Index Provider and (iv) the digital asset must have been listed on a Constituent Exchange for a minimum of 30 days leading up to the Index Rebalancing Period.

The Index Provider applies market capitalization, liquidity and data availability criteria to the digital assets in the Index Universe in order to arrive at between five and ten digital assets that, in the Index Provider’s judgment, represent a diversified benchmark for the largest and most liquid digital assets in the digital asset market (the “Large Cap sector”), rather than exposure to all digital assets in the Index Universe. The respective weightings of the Index Components within the DLCS are determined by the Index Provider based on market capitalization criteria, and are referred to as the “Index Weightings.” The process followed by the Index Provider to determine the Index Universe, the Index Components and their respective Index Weightings is referred to as the “DLCS Methodology.” Although the Fund will no longer seek to hold Fund Components meeting the Target Coverage Ratio, the Fund continues to seek to (i) provide large-cap coverage of the digital asset market; (ii) minimize transaction costs through low turnover of the Fund’s portfolio; and (iii) create a portfolio that can be replicated through direct purchases in the Digital Asset Market. Because Index Components target the Large Cap sector and are included in the DLCS in accordance with market capitalization and liquidity criteria, as of August 25, 2022, the DLCS covered approximately 74% of the market capitalization of the entire digital asset market, excluding stablecoins and meme coins, which is in excess of the Target Coverage Ratio. Additionally, as of August 25, 2022, the DLCS covered approximately 88% of the market capitalization of the Index Universe.

The Fund Components consist of the Index Components except that the Manager may determine to exclude a particular Index Component in its discretion under a variety of circumstances. See “—Fund Construction Criteria—DLCS Methodology—Inclusion of New Fund Components” for more information. The weightings of each Fund Component (the “Weightings”) are generally expected to be the same as the Index Weightings except when the Manager determines to exclude one or more digital assets from the Fund Components, in which case the Weightings are generally expected to be calculated proportionally to the respective Index Weightings for the remaining Index Components.

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As of June 30, 2022, prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology, the Fund Components consisted of: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polkadot (DOT), Avalanche (AVAX), Litecoin (LTC), Uniswap (UNI), Chainlink (LNK) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The Fund Components were weighted as follows:

On July 5, 2022, the Index Provider completed its quarterly rebalancing of the DLCS and determined that Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX) met the inclusion criteria of the DLCS. The Manager subsequently initiated the process of rebalancing the Fund and adjusted the Fund’s portfolio by selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase new Fund Components in accordance with the DLCS Methodology. As a result of the rebalancing, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Chainlink (LINK), Polkadot (DOT), and Uniswap (UNI) were removed from the Fund. No new tokens were added to the Fund.

Following the rebalancing, the Fund Components were the same as the Index Components and the Weightings were substantially the same as the Index Weightings. As of the end of the day on July 7, 2022, the Index Components and the Fund Components consisted of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and Avalanche (AVAX), weighted as follows:

See “—Fund Construction Criteria” below for further information on the DLCS Methodology.
 

To date, the Fund has not met its investment objective and the Shares quoted on OTCQX have not reflected the value of Fund Components, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, but have instead traded at both premiums and discounts to such value, which at times have been substantial. In the event the Shares trade at a substantial premium or discount, investors who purchase Shares on OTCQX will pay substantially more or less, respectively, for their Shares than investors who purchase Shares in the private placement. There can be no assurance that the value of the Shares (based on Digital Asset Holdings per Share) will reflect the value of the Fund Components as determined by reference to their respective Digital Asset Reference Rates and Weightings, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities. This may happen for a variety of reasons, including the holding period under Rule 144 for Shares purchased in the private placement, the lack of an ongoing redemption program, any halting of creations by the Fund, Fund Component price volatility, trading volumes on, or closures of, exchanges where digital assets trade due to fraud, failure, security breaches or otherwise, and the non-current trading hours between OTCQX and the global exchange market for trading the Fund Components. As a result, the Shares may continue to trade at a substantial premium over, or a substantial discount to, the value of the Fund Components, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, and the Fund may be unable to meet its investment objective for the foreseeable future.

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For example, from November 22, 2019 to June 30, 2022, the maximum premium of the closing price of the Shares quoted on OTCQX over the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share was 294% based on the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology and the average premium was 52% based on the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology. Over the same period, the maximum discount of the closing price of the Shares quoted on OTCQX below the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share was 42% and the average discount was 22% based on the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology. Moreover, from November 22, 2019 to June 30, 2022, the closing price of the Shares as quoted on OTCQX at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each business day, was quoted at a discount on 211 days, as calculated under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology. As of June 30, 2022, the Fund’s Shares were quoted on OTCQX at a discount of 35% to the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share based on the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology.

From July 1, 2022 to August 25, 2022, the Shares quoted on OTCQX traded at a discount to the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share based on the DLCS Methodology. From July 1, 2022 to August 25, 2022, the maximum discount of the closing price of the Shares quoted on OTCQX below the value of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share was 42% based on the DLCS Methodology and the average discount was 35% based on the DLCS Methodology. As of August 25, 2022, the Fund’s Shares were quoted on OTCQX at a discount of 36% to the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings per Share based on the DLCS Methodology.

All references to the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share of the Fund for periods prior to July 1, 2022 in this Annual Report have been calculated based on the digital assets held by the Fund pursuant to the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology and the corresponding rebalancing of the Fund on July 5, 2022. All references to the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share of the Fund for periods subsequent to July 1, 2022 in this Annual Report have been calculated based on the digital assets held by the Fund pursuant to the DLCS Methodology and the corresponding rebalancing of the Fund on July 5, 2022.

Digital Asset Reference Rates

The Fund values its digital assets for operational purposes by reference to Digital Asset Reference Rates. Historically, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component at any time has been the Index Price for such Fund Component, if CoinDesk Indices, Inc. (in this capacity, the “Reference Rate Provider”) in its sole discretion determined that it was able to determine such Index Price, or if not, the Old Indicative Price for such Fund Component as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the most recent business day, as determined by the Reference Rate Provider.

As of June 30, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component was an Index Price, except for DOT and AVAX, for which an Old Indicative Price was used.

Effective July 1, 2022, upon adoption of the DLCS Methodology, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component is the reference rate used by the Index Provider to constitute the DLCS. As of July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component is an Indicative Price. As of July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate used by the Index Provider for each Index Component is a volume-weighted average price in U.S. dollars for the Fund Component for the immediately preceding 60-minute period derived from data collected from Constituent Exchanges (such price, an “Indicative Price”). As such, as of July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component is an Indicative Price.

The Index Provider may use Index Prices as the reference rate for an Index Component in the future, and if it does so, then the Manager will use an Index Price for the relevant Fund Component. The Manager expects that such Index Price would be calculated in the same manner as described above, except that it would cleanse and compile trade data used to determine the Indicative Price, instead of the Old Indicative Price.

Prior to July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rates used to calculate the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share of the Fund were Index Prices and/or Old Indicative Prices. All references to the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share of the Fund in this Annual Report for periods prior to July 1, 2022 have been calculated using such Index Prices

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and/or Old Indicative Prices. All references to the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share of the Fund in this Annual Report for periods subsequent to July 1, 2022 have been calculated using Indicative Prices.

Fund Construction Criteria

For all periods covered by this Annual Report, the Fund’s portfolio was constructed based on the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology. Effective July 1, 2022, the Fund uses the DLCS Methodology to construct the Fund’s portfolio. The following sets forth a description of the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology and the DLCS Methodology.

Target Coverage Ratio Methodology

Eligibility and Weighting

Under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, a digital asset was generally eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio if it satisfied market capitalization, liquidity and coverage criteria as determined by the Manager.

Fund Components were held in the Fund’s portfolio on a market capitalization-weighted basis. For example, a digital asset with a larger market capitalization had a higher representation in the Fund’s portfolio. Market capitalization refers to a digital asset’s market value, as determined by multiplying the number of tokens of such digital asset in circulation by the market price of a token of such digital asset. The market price per token of a Fund Component was determined by reference to the applicable Digital Asset Reference Rate, which prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology were Old Indicative Prices or Index Prices. The market capitalization of any digital assets not held by the Fund was determined by reference to CoinMarketCap.com and/or OnChainFX.com. Because the Fund creates Shares in exchange for Fund Components on a daily basis, the market capitalization of each Fund Component was calculated, and its Weighting therefore fluctuated, daily in accordance with changes in the market price of such Fund Components.

Removal of Existing Fund Components

Under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, the Fund was rebalanced on a quarterly basis. During each rebalancing period, a Fund Component was removed as a Fund Component if (i) it had the smallest market capitalization of all Fund Components, taking into account any other removals during the rebalancing period, (ii) the sum of (x) its then current market capitalization and (y) the combined current market capitalization of Fund Components with a market capitalization greater than such Fund Component, divided by the then current total market capitalization of all digital assets tracked by Coinmarketcap.com that were not pegged to another asset, was higher than 0.85, and (iii) such removal would not result in the Fund holding fewer than five Fund Components (the “Old Removal Criteria”).

For example, under the Old Removal Criteria, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) qualified for removal based on market capitalization during the most recent rebalancing period, since it was the smallest Fund Component as of such rebalancing period. However, because the sum of (x) its market capitalization and (y) the combined market capitalization of Fund Components with a market capitalization greater than Bitcoin (BCH), divided by the current total market capitalization of all digital assets tracked by Coinmarketcap.com that are not pegged to another asset, was lower than 0.85, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) remained in the Fund.

Inclusion of New Fund Components

Under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, in order for a new digital asset to qualify for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio during a rebalancing period, such digital asset was required to have a market capitalization that was at least 1.25 times the then current market capitalization, trailing 90-day median market capitalization and trailing 90-day average market capitalization of any Fund Component at such time (the “Quantitative Inclusion Criteria”). In addition, each new digital asset was required to meet the following liquidity requirements to be eligible for inclusion: the digital asset was required to have (i) an average 30-day trade volume of at least 30% of its market capitalization for the last three months, (ii) trade on at least one exchange meeting the criteria of the Reference Rate Provider and (iii) have a trading history of at least three months on at least one such exchange (the “Qualitative Inclusion Criteria”). The Qualitative Inclusion Criteria, together with the Quantitative Inclusion Criteria, and the Old Removal Criteria, made up the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology.

Pursuant to the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, in certain circumstances, the Manager could determine that it was appropriate to include or exclude a digital asset that did or did not meet the inclusion criteria, such as because the Target Coverage Ratio was not met or because the Authorized Participant or the Fund’s other service providers were not able to trade in the digital asset. Due to these features of the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology as well as digital asset price volatility more broadly, the Manager was not always able to meet the Target Coverage Ratio and at times held more or fewer than five Fund Components.

The Manager also had discretion to cause the Fund to hold fewer than five Fund Components if, for example, a Fund Component was removed during the rebalancing period and there were not enough digital assets that meet the inclusion criteria and were otherwise appropriate to be included in the Fund despite otherwise satisfying the inclusion criteria. For example, the Fund fell below five Fund

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Components in January 2021, to four Fund Components, when the Fund removed XRP from the Fund’s portfolio and sold the XRP holdings to purchase additional tokens of the remaining four Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings.

The Manager also had discretion to cause the Fund to hold more than five Fund Components if it determined that another digital asset met the inclusion criteria and that it was otherwise appropriate to include the digital asset in the Fund. For example, effective July 1, 2021, the Manager adjusted the Fund’s portfolio in connection with its quarterly review by selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase Cardano (ADA) in accordance with the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology. Further, the Manager could cause the Fund to hold more than five Fund Components if, for example, it determined that a Forked Asset had a high probability of qualifying for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio after meeting the trading history requirement of at least three months and had discretion to retain the Forked Asset despite the fact that it did not meet the inclusion criteria.

DLCS Methodology

Index Universe

The Index Components are drawn from the Index Universe, which is determined based on the following criteria: (i) the digital asset must be ranked in the top 200 in the Index Provider’s DACS report, (ii) custodian services for the digital asset must be available from Coinbase Custody, a division of Coinbase Global Inc., and must be accessible to U.S. investors, (iii) the digital asset must not be a stablecoin or categorized as a meme coin as determined by the Index Provider and (iv) the digital asset must have been listed on a Constituent Exchange for a minimum of 30 days leading up to the Index Rebalancing Period.

Eligibility and Weighting

Under the DLCS Methodology and subject to the below, a digital asset included in the Index Universe will generally be eligible for inclusion in the DLCS as an Index Component, and thus the Fund’s portfolio as a Fund Component, if it satisfies market capitalization, liquidity and data availability metrics determined by the Index Provider. Digital assets will be included in the DLCS on a market capitalization-weighted basis. For example, a digital asset with a larger market capitalization will have a higher representation in the DLCS, and thus the Fund’s portfolio (unless the Manager excludes the digital asset from the Fund). Market capitalization refers to a digital asset’s market value, as determined by multiplying the number of tokens of such digital asset in circulation by the market price of a token of such digital asset. The market price per token of a Fund Component will be determined by reference to the applicable Digital Asset Reference Rate, which as of July 1, 2022 are Indicative Prices. The market capitalization of any digital assets not in the DLCS, and therefore not held by the Fund, will be determined based on data that the Index Provider obtains directly from exchanges and other service providers. Because the Fund creates Shares in exchange for Fund Components on a daily basis, the market capitalization of each Fund Component is calculated, and its Weighting therefore fluctuates daily in accordance with changes in the market price of such Fund Components. See “Valuation of Digital Assets and Determination of Digital Asset Holdings.”

Inclusion of New Fund Components

In order for a new digital asset to qualify for inclusion in the DLCS, and thus the Fund’s portfolio during a Fund Rebalancing Period, it must be included in the Index Universe and be among the 20 highest ranked digital assets in the Index Universe by market capitalization. Such 20 digital assets are referred to as the “Selection Universe.” In order for a digital asset in the Selection Universe to be included in the Fund’s portfolio during a Fund Rebalancing Period, such digital asset must (i) have a current market capitalization that is at least 1.2 times the median current market capitalization of the Selection Universe, (ii) have a median daily value traded (“MDVT”) for the Index Rebalancing Period that is at least 1.2 times the MDVT of the Selection Universe for the Index Rebalancing Period, (iii) trade on at least three Constituent Exchanges as of the first day of the Index Rebalancing Period, (iv) have been included in the Selection Universe during the Index Rebalancing Period (as defined below) for the prior quarter, (v) the inclusion of such new digital asset will not result in the Fund holding more than ten Fund Components and (vi) such digital asset must have a minimum weight of 1.0% (collectively, the “Index Inclusion Criteria”). In the event that more than ten digital assets meet the Index Inclusion Criteria, the qualifying digital assets will be ranked by current market capitalizations. Those ranked below the top ten will be excluded.

The Index Provider may include a digital asset that does not meet the Index Inclusion Criteria in the DLCS if the Index Components no longer collectively meet the five constituent minimum, at which point the Index Provider would first relax the market capitalization and liquidity requirements included in the Index Inclusion Criteria to those included in the Removal Criteria described below and include the next largest digital assets by current market capitalization that met such requirements, until there were five Index Components. If after relaxing such requirements, there were still fewer than five Index Components, the Index Provider would further relax the requirements and include the next the next largest digital assets by current market capitalization until there were five Index Components.

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Removal of Existing Fund Components

The DLCS, and therefore the Fund, is rebalanced on a quarterly basis according to the DLCS Methodology during a period beginning 14 days before the second business day of each January, April, July, and October (each such period, an “Index Rebalancing Period”). During each Index Rebalancing Period, a digital asset will be removed as an Index Component from the DLCS, and therefore removed from the Fund is also a Fund Component, if (A) (i) it is not included in the Selection Universe, (ii) it fails to be listed on at least three Constituent Exchanges, (iii) it has a current market capitalization that is less than 1.0 times the median current market capitalization of the Selection Universe, (iv) it has an MDVT for the Index Rebalancing Period that is less than 1.0 times the MDVT of the Selection Universe for the Index Rebalancing Period, or (v) such digital asset has a weight of less than 0.8% and (B) such removal would not result in the DLCS holding less than five Index Components (collectively, the “Removal Criteria”). For additional information, including regarding the exclusion of Index Components from the Fund, see “—Inclusion of New Fund Components” and “—Rebalancing.”

For example, if BCH was not included in the Selection Universe, failed to meet the thresholds in market capitalization and liquidity described above, or had a weight in the Index of less than 0.8%, BCH would be removed from the DLCS, unless its removal would result in the DLCS holding less than five Index Components, in which case it would not be removed.

Outside of the quarterly Index Rebalancing Period, the Index Provider may remove a digital asset as an Index Component from the DLCS under extraordinary circumstances. For example, if an Index Component is determined to be a “security” under the federal securities laws by the SEC, federal court or other U.S. government agency, or under such consideration by any U.S. government oversight agency, it would be removed from the DLCS at a date determined and announced by the Index Provider. In the event the Index Provider removes an Index Component outside of the quarterly rebalancing period, the Manager expects the Fund would rebalance and the relevant digital asset would be removed as a Fund Component as soon as practical.

Index Components Compared to Fund Components

The Fund Components consist of the Index Components except when the Manager determines to exclude a particular Index Component in view of one or more of the following criteria (the “Exclusion Criteria”), as determined in the sole discretion of the Manager:

As part of determining whether use or trading of a digital asset raises or potentially raises significant governmental, policy or regulatory concerns or is subject or likely subject to a specialized regulatory regime, the Manager considers whether a particular digital asset that is included or eligible for inclusion in the Fund is a security for purposes of the federal securities laws. The Manager does this taking into account a number of factors, including the various definitions of “security” under the federal securities laws and federal court decisions interpreting elements of these definitions, such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions in the Howey and Reves cases, as well as reports, orders, press releases, public statements and speeches by the SEC and its staff providing guidance on when a digital asset may be a security for purposes of the federal securities laws. The Manager also considers, solely as one input, the analytical framework developed by Coinbase, Inc., which has been adopted by the Crypto Ratings Counsel, an organization of which the Manager is a founding member. Finally, the Manager discusses the security status of each digital asset included in the Fund with its external securities lawyers. Through this process the Manager believes that it is applying the proper legal standards in determining whether a particular digital asset is a security in light of the uncertainties inherent in the Howey and Reves tests, as opposed to a purely probabilistic or “risk based” standard. However, because of these uncertainties, the Manager acknowledges that a particular digital asset included in the Fund may in the future be found by the SEC or a federal court to be a security notwithstanding the Manager’s prior conclusion; and the Manager’s prior conclusion, even if reasonable under the circumstances, would not preclude legal or regulatory action based on the presence of a security.

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The Manager does not intend to permit the Fund to hold any digital asset that the Manager determines is a security under the federal securities laws, whether that determination is initially made by the Manager itself, or because the SEC or a federal court subsequently makes that determination. Because the legal tests for determining whether a digital asset is or is not a security often leave room for interpretation, when the Manager believes there to be good faith grounds to conclude that a particular digital asset is not a security, the Manager does not intend to exclude that digital asset from the Fund strictly on the basis that it could at some future point

be determined to be a security.

The Weightings are generally expected to be the same as the Index Weightings except when one or more digital assets have been excluded from the Fund Components based on the Exclusion Criteria, in which case the Weightings are generally expected to be calculated proportionally to the respective Index Weightings for the remaining Index Components.

The Manager may decide, in its sole discretion, to include or exclude a digital asset if the Manager determines that such digital asset is or is not suitable for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio, irrespective of such digital asset’s inclusion in the DLCS. In addition, the Manager may exclude a digital asset or rebalance the Weighting of an existing Fund Component to the extent its inclusion as a Fund Component or projected Weighting would exceed a threshold that could, in the Manager’s sole discretion, require the Fund to register as an investment company under the Investment Company Act or require the Manager to register as an investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act.

The Exclusion Criteria are identical to the circumstances under which the Manager would determine to exclude a digital asset from the Fund’s portfolio pursuant to the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology.

Illustrative Example

For the purposes of illustration, the digital assets that qualified for inclusion in the DLCS based on market capitalization were Bitcoin (BTC), XRP (XRP) and Polkadot (DOT). The digital assets that qualified for inclusion based on liquidity were Bitcoin (BTC), XRP (XRP) and Chainlink (LINK). The digital assets that qualified for inclusion based on eligible exchanges were Bitcoin (BTC) and Chainlink (LINK). Bitcoin (BTC) was the only asset to pass the market capitalization, liquidity, and eligible exchange thresholds.

While Bitcoin (BTC) met the Index Inclusion Criteria, the Manager then sought to determine whether any of the aforementioned bases for exclusion applied:

i. none or few of the Authorized Participants or Service Providers has the ability to trade or otherwise support the digital asset: Because the Authorized Participant had the ability to trade Bitcoin (BTC) during this Fund Rebalancing Period, it satisfied this criterion.

ii. the Manager believes that, based on current guidance, use or trading of the digital asset raises or potentially raises significant governmental, policy or regulatory concerns or is subject or likely subject to a specialized regulatory regime, such as the U.S. federal securities or commodities laws or similar laws in other significant jurisdictions: Bitcoin (BTC) raised no such concern and therefore satisfied this criterion.

iii. the underlying code contains, or may contain, significant flaws or vulnerabilities: Bitcoin (BTC) raised no such concern and therefore satisfied this criterion.

iv. there is limited or no reliable information regarding, or concerns over the intentions of, the core developers of the digital asset: Bitcoin (BTC) raised no such concern and therefore satisfied this criterion.

v. for any other reason, in each case as determined by the Manager in its sole discretion: The Manager had no such reason and therefore, this Bitcoin (BTC) satisfied this criterion.

Following this analysis, it was determined that Bitcoin (BTC) should be included as a Fund Component.

Forked Assets

The Fund may from time to time hold positions in Forked Assets as a result of a fork, airdrop or similar event. Pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement, the Fund may take any lawful action necessary or desirable in connection with its ownership of Forked Assets. These actions may include (i) selling Forked Assets in the Digital Asset Markets and distributing the cash proceeds to shareholders, (ii) distributing Forked Assets in-kind to the shareholders or to an agent acting on behalf of the shareholders for sale by such agent if an in-kind distribution would otherwise be infeasible, (iii) irrevocably abandoning Forked Assets and (iv) holding Forked Assets until the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period, at which point the Manager may take any of the foregoing actions. The Fund may also use Forked Assets to pay the Manager’s Fee and Additional Fund Expenses, if any, as discussed below under “—Fund Expenses.”

On July 29, 2019, the Manager delivered to the Custodian a notice (the “Pre-Creation Abandonment Notice”) stating that the Fund is abandoning irrevocably for no direct or indirect consideration, effective immediately prior to each time at which the Fund creates

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Shares (any such time, a “Creation Time”), all Forked Assets to which it would otherwise be entitled as of such time (any such abandonment, a “Pre-Creation Abandonment”), provided that a Pre-Creation Abandonment will not apply to any Forked Assets if (i) the Fund has taken, or is taking at such time, an Affirmative Action to acquire or abandon such Forked Assets at any time prior to such Creation Time or (ii) such Forked Assets has been subject to a previous Pre-Creation Abandonment. An Affirmative Action is a written notification from the Manager to the Custodian of the Fund’s intention (i) to acquire and/or retain any Forked Assets or (ii) to abandon any Forked Assets with effect prior to the relevant Creation Time.

In determining whether to take an Affirmative Action to acquire and/or retain a Forked Asset, the Fund takes into consideration a number of factors, including:

Prior to making any decision to retain a Forked Asset in the Fund, the Manager would analyze whether that asset should be deemed a security under the federal securities laws using the same process described under “—Fund Construction Criteria—DLCS Methodology—Inclusion of New Fund Components.”

For Forked Assets with respect to which the Manager takes an Affirmative Action to acquire such Forked Asset, the Manager currently expects that it would (a) distribute the Forked Asset in-kind to an agent on behalf of shareholders of record on a specified record date for sale by such agent or (b) monitor the Forked Asset from the date of the relevant fork, airdrop or similar event, or the date on which the Manager becomes aware of such event, leading up to, but not necessarily until, the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period. In the case of option (a), the shareholders’ agent would attempt to sell the Forked Asset, and if the agent is able to do so, remit the cash proceeds, net of expenses and any applicable withholding taxes, to the relevant record date shareholders. There can be no assurance as to the price or prices for any Forked Asset that the agent may realize, and the value of the Forked Asset may increase or decrease after any sale by the agent. See “Description of the Shares—Forked Assets.”

In the case of option (b), leading up to the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period, if the sale of such Forked Asset is economically and technologically feasible, the Manager currently expects to cause the Fund to sell such Forked Asset and use the cash proceeds to purchase additional tokens of the Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings. If the sale of a Forked Asset is either economically or technologically infeasible at the time of the next Fund Rebalancing Period, the Manager may cause the Fund to abandon or continue holding such Forked Asset until such time as the sale is economically and technologically feasible, as determined by the Manager, in its sole discretion. In addition, the Manager may determine that a Forked Asset has a high probability of qualifying for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio once it has been trading for three months and can thus meet the liquidity requirements of the DLCS Methodology. Should the Manager make such determination, the Manager may, in its discretion, cause the Fund to continue to hold the Forked Asset until such time as the Manager determines to sell or abandon the Forked Asset or to include the Forked Asset in the Fund’s portfolio as a Fund Component. In the case of abandonment of Forked Assets, the Fund would not receive any direct or indirect consideration for the Forked Assets and thus the value of the Shares will not reflect the value of the Forked Assets.

As a result of the Pre-Creation Abandonment Notice, since July 29, 2019, the Fund has irrevocably abandoned, prior to the Creation Time of any Shares, any Forked Asset that it may have had a right to receive. The Fund has no right to receive any Forked Asset abandoned pursuant to either the Pre-Creation Abandonment Notice or an Affirmative Action. Furthermore, the Custodian has no authority, pursuant to the Custodian Agreement or otherwise, to exercise, obtain or hold, as the case may be, any such abandoned Forked Asset on behalf of the Fund or to transfer any such abandoned Forked Asset to the Fund if the Fund terminates its custodial agreement with the Custodian.

The Manager intends to evaluate each fork, airdrop or similar event on a case-by-case basis in consultation with the Fund’s legal advisers, tax consultants and the Custodian, and may, in its sole discretion, determine that a different course of action with respect to such event is in the best interests of the Fund. In the event the Manager decides to sell any Forked Assets, it would expect to execute the sale to the Authorized Participant , as principal, or through the Authorized Participant, as broker. In either case, the Manager expects that the Authorized Participant would only be willing to transact with the Manager on behalf of the Fund if the Authorized Participant considered it possible to trade the Forked Asset on a Digital Asset Exchange or other venue to which the Authorized Participant has

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access. The Authorized Participant has access only to Digital Asset Exchanges or other venues that the Authorized Participant reasonably believes are operating in compliance with applicable law, including federal and state licensing requirements, based upon information and assurances provided to it by each venue.

There was no change to the Manager’s approach to Forked Assets as a result of the adoption of the DLCS Methodology.

Fiat Currencies

The Fund may also hold cash in U.S. dollars from time to time due to sales of digital assets during a Fund Rebalancing Period, sales of Forked Assets following a fork, airdrop or similar event or contributions of cash to the Fund, as described in more detail under “Description of the Fund—Creation of Shares.” The Manager does not currently expect to hold cash for a period of more than 90 days and intends to use any cash held by the Fund to purchase additional tokens of the Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings during the next Fund Rebalancing Period. The foregoing notwithstanding, the Manager may, in its sole discretion, decide to cause the Fund to hold cash for longer than 90 days and to use any cash it holds for any other lawful purpose.

Rebalancing

Target Coverage Ratio Methodology

Under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, the Manager rebalanced the Fund’s portfolio on a quarterly basis beginning on the first business day of January, April, July and October of each year. In order to rebalance the Fund’s portfolio, the Manager (i) determined whether any Fund Components meet the Removal Criteria and should therefore be removed as Fund Components, (ii) determined whether any new digital assets meet the inclusion criteria and should therefore be included as Fund Components, (iii) determined whether the Target Coverage Ratio was met and (iv) determined how much cash and Forked Assets the Fund held. If a Fund Component was no longer eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio because it met the Removal Criteria, the Manager adjusted the Fund’s portfolio by selling such Fund Component in the Digital Asset Markets and using the cash proceeds to purchase additional tokens of the remaining Fund Components and, if applicable, any new Fund Component in proportion to their respective Weightings. If a digital asset not then included in the Fund’s portfolio was newly eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio because it met the inclusion criteria or because its inclusion was necessary in order for the Fund’s portfolio to meet the Target Coverage Ratio, the Manager adjusted the Fund’s portfolio by selling tokens of the then-current Fund Components in the Digital Asset Markets in proportion to their respective Weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase tokens of the newly eligible digital assets. Such sales and purchases were typically executed to or from the Authorized Participant, as principal, or through the Authorized Participant, as broker.

During any rebalancing period, the Manager would also (i) decide whether to cause the Fund to sell or hold any Forked Assets then held by the Fund and (ii) generally cause the Fund to use the cash proceeds from the sale of any Forked Assets and any cash contributed to the Fund as the Forked Asset Portion or the Cash Portion to purchase additional tokens of all Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings as determined during such rebalancing period.

Other than through the quarterly rebalancing described above, the Manager did not actively manage the Fund portfolio in response to price changes in the Fund Components held by the Fund at any given time.

Under the Target Coverage Ratio Methodology, each rebalancing period generally lasted between one and five business days.

DLCS Methodology

The Index Provider reviews the DLCS for rebalancing according to the DLCS Methodology quarterly during a period beginning 14 days before the second business day of each January, April, July, and October (each such period, an “Index Rebalancing Period”). At the start of each Index Rebalancing Period, the Index Provider applies the DLCS Methodology to determine any changes to the Index Components and the Index Weightings, after which the Manager rebalances the Fund’s portfolio accordingly, subject to application of the Exclusion Criteria. In order to rebalance the Fund’s portfolio, the Manager will (i) determine whether any Fund Components have been removed from the DLCS and should therefore be removed as Fund Components, (ii) determine whether any new digital assets have been added to the DLCS and should therefore be included as Fund Components, (iii) determine how much cash and Forked Assets the Fund holds. If a Fund Component is no longer included in the DLCS, the Manager will adjust the Fund’s portfolio by selling such Fund Component in the Digital Asset Markets and using the cash proceeds to purchase additional tokens of the remaining Fund Components and, if applicable, any new Fund Component in proportion to their respective Weightings. If a digital asset not then included in the Fund’s portfolio is newly eligible for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio because it was added to the DLCS and not excluded through the Exclusion Criteria, the Manager will adjust the Fund’s portfolio by selling tokens of the then-current Fund Components in the Digital Asset Markets in proportion to their respective Weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase tokens of the newly eligible digital assets.

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The Manager will rebalance the Fund’s portfolio quarterly during a period beginning on the second business day of each January, April, July and October (each such period, a “Fund Rebalancing Period”). The Manager expects each Fund Rebalancing Period to last between one and five business days. The Manager will post on its website the new Fund Components and their respective Weightings at the end of each Fund Rebalancing Period based on the assessment described above. During each Fund Rebalancing Period, the Manager will halt creations (and if redemptions are then permitted, redemptions) of Shares. If a Fund Rebalancing Period ends prior to 4:00 p.m., New York time, on a business day, the Manager will cause the Fund to resume creations on such business day and the Fund will create Shares in exchange for contributions of the then-current Fund Components in proportion to their respective Weightings as of the end of such Fund Rebalancing Period, as determined as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on such business day in the manner set forth under “Description of the Fund—Creation of Shares.” If a Fund Rebalancing Period ends after 4:00 p.m., New York time, on a business day, the Manager will cause the Fund to resume creations on the following business day.

There are two factors that drive changes in the market capitalization weighting of a Fund Component: (i) increases and decreases in the market price of a Fund Component, which occur daily as prices fluctuate in the digital asset market, and (ii) increases or decreases in the circulating supply of the Fund Component, which occur gradually over extended periods of time for a number of reasons, including in connection with mining or staking activity. Since the daily fluctuation in the market price of each Fund Component is the predominant driver of its market capitalization weighting, the Weighting of each Fund Component will generally dynamically adjust with the market, even without adjustments to such Fund Component’s Weighting, to account for gradual changes in supply. Therefore, the Manager does not expect the Index Provider to cause the DLCS to remove or add tokens of any Index Component during an Index Rebalancing Period, and accordingly the Manager generally does not expect the Fund to sell or purchase tokens of any Fund Component during a Fund Rebalancing Period other than in the event that (i) a Fund Component is eligible for removal, (ii) a new digital asset is eligible for inclusion, or (iii) the Fund holds cash either from contributions in connection with the creation of Baskets or as a result of the sale of any Forked Assets. However, should the Manager determine that the Weighting of a Fund Component does not accurately reflect its market capitalization due to, among other reasons, material increases or decreases in the circulating supply of such Fund Component that have not been accounted for over the course of prior Fund Rebalancing Periods, the Manager may cause the Fund to purchase or sell additional tokens of such Fund Component during a Fund Rebalancing Period to adjust such Fund Component’s Weighting.

During any Fund Rebalancing Period, the Manager will also (i) decide whether to cause the Fund to sell or hold any Forked Assets then held by the Fund and (ii) generally cause the Fund to use the cash proceeds from the sale of any Forked Assets and any cash contributed to the Fund as the Forked Asset Portion or the Cash Portion to purchase additional tokens of all Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings as determined during such Fund Rebalancing Period.

Other than through the quarterly rebalancing described above, the Manager does not intend to actively manage the Fund portfolio in response to price changes in the Fund Components held by the Fund at any given time. Nevertheless, the Index Provider may remove a digital asset as an Index Component from the DLCS outside of the scheduled Index Rebalancing Period under extraordinary circumstances. In the event the Index Provider removes an Index Component outside of the quarterly rebalancing period, the Manager expects the Fund would rebalance and the relevant digital asset would be removed as a Fund Component as soon as practical.

Hypothetical Rebalancing Example

The following table illustrates the impact of the inclusion of a new digital asset in the Fund’s portfolio during a Fund Rebalancing Period under the DLCS Methodology. The table makes a number of assumptions, including that: (i) prior to the Fund Rebalancing Period, the Fund held two Fund Components, each with a weight of 50% of the Fund’s portfolio, (ii) the tokens for each Fund Component have the same value in U.S. dollars, (iii) the price of each Fund Component remains constant throughout the Fund Rebalancing Period, (iv) one digital asset is added to the Fund’s portfolio during the Fund Rebalancing Period and (v) following the Fund Rebalancing Period, each Fund Component has an equal weight in the Fund’s portfolio.

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Characteristics of the Shares

The Shares are intended to offer investors an opportunity to participate in Digital Asset Markets through an investment in securities. As of June 30, 2022, each Share represented approximately 0.0004 of one BTC, 0.0025 of one ETH, 0.6880 of one ADA, 0.0070 of one SOL, 0.0207 of one DOT, 0.0056 of one AVAX, 0.0015 of one LTC, 0.0147 of one UNI, 0.0100 of one LINK, and 0.0004 of one BCH. Effective July 1, 2022, the Manager adopted the DLCS Methodology and adjusted the Fund’s portfolio by selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase new Fund Components in accordance with the DLCS Methodology. As of the end of the day on July 7, 2022, each Share represented 0.0004 BTC, 0.0026 ETH, 0.7161 ADA, 0.0073 SOL, and 0.0060 AVAX. The logistics of accepting, transferring and safekeeping of digital assets are dealt with by the Manager and the Custodian, and the related expenses are built into the value of the Shares. Therefore, shareholders do not have additional tasks or costs over and above those generally associated with investing in any other privately placed security. The Shares have certain other key characteristics, including the following:

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The Fund differentiates itself from competing digital asset financial vehicles, to the extent that such digital asset financial vehicles may develop, in the following ways:

Activities of the Fund

Except as described below, the activities of the Fund are limited to (i) issuing Baskets in exchange for Fund Components and cash transferred to the Fund as consideration in connection with the creations, (ii) transferring or selling Fund Components and Forked Assets as necessary to cover the Manager’s Fee and/or any Additional Fund Expenses, (iii) transferring Fund Components and cash in exchange for Baskets surrendered for redemption (subject to obtaining regulatory approval from the SEC and approval from the Manager), (iv) causing the Manager to sell Fund Components and Forked Assets on the termination of the Fund, (v) making distributions of Forked Assets or cash from the sale thereof and (vi) engaging in all administrative and security procedures necessary to accomplish such activities in accordance with the provisions of the LLC Agreement, the Custodian Agreement, the Index License Agreement and the Participant Agreements.

In addition, the Fund may engage in any lawful activity necessary or desirable, including in order to facilitate shareholders’ access to Forked Assets or for Staking or lending the Fund Property, provided that such activities do not conflict with the terms of the LLC Agreement. At this time, however, the Fund does not currently engage in, nor does it intend to engage in, any Staking or lending activities related to the Fund Property. In the future, any value created from such activities will be included in the NAV or Digital Asset Holdings calculation, or will be used to pay the Fund’s expenses.

Other than through the quarterly rebalancing described under “—Rebalancing” above, the Manager has not, and does not, intend to actively manage the Fund portfolio in response to price changes in the Fund Components held by the Fund at any given time.

Although it has no current plans to do so, in the future the Fund may engage in Staking Activities, Governance Activities or lending activities involving the lending of Fund Components or Fund assets in a manner consistent with the LLC Agreement.

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The mere act of transferring units of virtual currency on a peer-to-peer virtual currency network that allows for token holders to participate in governance shall not be considered to be Staking Activities or Governance Activities.

Any value created from Staking Activities, Governance Activities or lending activities involving the lending of Fund Components or Fund assets would be included in the NAV or Digital Asset Holdings Calculation, or used to pay the Fund’s expenses.

Secondary Market Trading

While the Fund’s investment objective is for the value of the Shares to reflect the value of the Fund Components as determined by reference to their respective Digital Asset Reference Rates and weightings within the Fund, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, the Shares may trade in the Secondary Market on OTCQX (or on another Secondary Market in the future) at prices that are lower or higher than the Digital Asset Holdings per Share. The amount of the discount or premium in the trading price relative to the Digital Asset Holdings per Share may be influenced by non-concurrent trading hours and liquidity between OTCQX and larger Digital Asset Exchanges. While the Shares are listed and trade on OTCQX from 6:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., New York time, liquidity in the Digital Asset Markets may fluctuate depending upon the volume and availability of larger Digital Asset Exchanges. As a result, during periods in which Digital Asset Market liquidity is limited or a major Digital Asset Exchange is off-line, trading spreads, and the resulting premium or discount, on the Shares may widen.

Overview of the Digital Asset Industry and Market

Digital assets are created and transmitted through the operations of peer-to-peer Digital Asset Networks, which are decentralized networks of computers that operate on cryptographic protocols. No single entity owns or operates any Digital Asset Network, the infrastructure of which is collectively maintained by a decentralized user base. Digital Asset Networks allow people to exchange tokens of value, which are recorded on public transaction ledgers known as blockchains.

Digital Asset Networks are decentralized and do not require governmental authorities or financial institution intermediaries to create, transmit or determine the value of their tokens. Rather, such digital assets are created and allocated by the Digital Asset Network’s protocol, for example through a “mining,” “staking” or other validating process. Most commonly, new digital assets are created and awarded to the miners, stakers or validators of a block in the digital asset’s blockchain for verifying transactions. In other instances, all of the Digital Asset Network’s tokens are created upon the Digital Asset Network’s launch and may be used to pay transaction fees to validators. See “Market Participants—Miners and Validators” for more detail. A digital asset’s blockchain is effectively a decentralized database that includes all blocks that have been mined by miners, stakers or validators and it is updated to include new blocks as they are mined. Each digital asset transaction is broadcast to the Digital Asset Network and, when included in a block, recorded in the digital asset blockchain. As each new block records outstanding digital asset transactions, and outstanding transactions are settled and validated through such recording, the digital asset blockchain represents a complete, transparent and unbroken history of all transactions of the Digital Asset Network.

The value of a digital asset is determined by the supply of and demand for such digital asset on Digital Asset Exchanges or in private end-user-to-end-user transactions. Digital assets can be used to pay for goods and services or can be converted to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates determined on Digital Asset Exchanges or in individual end-user-to-end-user transactions under a barter system. Additionally, digital assets can be used to pay for transaction fees to miners, stakers or validators for verifying transactions on the Digital Asset Network. Digital Asset Networks can also be used for more complex purposes. For example, various digital asset networks allow users to run smart contracts, which are general purpose code that autonomously executes on every computer on the relevant network and can instruct the transmission of information and value to facilitate, verify and enforce the negotiation and performance of contracts. On decentralized finance or “DeFi” applications, digital assets are also employed in financial services

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transactions such as borrowing, lending, custodying, trading, derivatives, asset management and insurance, without the intermediation of a central trusted party such as a bank, custodian, broker-dealer, securities exchange, investment adviser, clearinghouse or transfer agent.

Composition of the Digital Asset Market

As of June 30, 2022, there were over 20,000 digital assets tracked by CoinMarketCap.com, one of the most widely used price aggregators for digital assets. Prior to July 1, 2022 and for the year ended June 30, 2022, the Fund used information from CoinMarketCap.com for purposes of calculating compliance with the Fund’s Target Coverage Ratio.

Effective July 1, 2022, the DLCS Methodology, and therefore the Fund, uses information that the Index Provider obtains directly from exchanges and other service providers for purposes of assessing the total market capitalization of each Index Component and therefore each Fund Component.

Market capitalization of a digital asset is calculated by multiplying the existing reference price of the digital asset by the current circulating supply.

The first digital asset to gain mass adoption was Bitcoin. Bitcoin is currently the largest digital asset with a market capitalization of $377.5 billion as of June 30, 2022 and is widely considered the most prominent digital asset.

While Bitcoin possesses the “first-to-market” advantage and has captured the significant portion of the industry’s market share, Bitcoin is not the only type of digital asset founded on cryptography; Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin are just a few examples of Bitcoin alternatives. These and other digital assets may offer certain variations or enhancements of blockchain technology that enable them to serve purposes beyond acting as a means of payment.

For example, Zcash (ZEC), Monero, Dash and Horizen (ZEN) are examples of digital assets whose primary differentiating attributes revolve around enhanced levels of confidentiality and privacy as compared to Bitcoin. On the other hand, for example, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic’s distinguishing characteristic is that they allow users to program smart contracts that can run on their networks. A smart contract is general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. The use of smart contracts on the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic networks, for example, is one of a number of projects intended to expand the application of blockchain technology beyond just a peer-to-peer money system.

As of June 30, 2022, total market-capitalization according to CoinMarketCap.com was approximately $778.8 billion, excluding tokens pegged to other assets, of which the digital assets held by the Fund represented approximately 71.7%, or $558.1 billion of the digital asset market. As of June 30, 2022, pursuant to the Target Coverage Ratio, the respective portfolio weighting of each Fund Component was 67.7% Bitcoin, 23.1% Ethereum, 2.8% Cardano, 2.0% Solana, 1.3% Polkadot, 0.8% Avalanche, 0.7% Litecoin, 0.6% Uniswap, 0.6% Chainlink, and 0.4% Bitcoin Cash.

As of July 7, 2022, total market capitalization of the digital asset market, as determined by the Index Provider, was approximately $772.6 billion. The market value of the digital assets held by the Fund represented approximately 77.5%, or $598.4 billion. The top digital assets by market capitalization that met the DLCS Methodology as of July 7, 2022 are detailed below:

Bitcoin

Bitcoin (“Bitcoin” or “BTC”) is a digital asset that is created and transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer Bitcoin network, a decentralized network of computers that operates on cryptographic protocols. No single entity owns or operates the Bitcoin network, the infrastructure of which is collectively maintained by a decentralized user base. The Bitcoin network allows people to exchange tokens of value, called Bitcoin, which are recorded on a public transaction ledger known as a blockchain. Bitcoin can be used to pay for goods and services, or it can be converted to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates determined on Digital Asset Exchanges that trade Bitcoin or in individual end-user-to-end-user transactions under a barter system.

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The Bitcoin network was initially contemplated in a white paper that also described Bitcoin and the operating software to govern the Bitcoin network. The white paper was purportedly authored by Satoshi Nakamoto. However, no individual with that name has been reliably identified as Bitcoin’s creator, and the general consensus is that the name is a pseudonym for the actual inventor or inventors. The first Bitcoins were created in 2009 after Nakamoto released the Bitcoin network source code (the software and protocol that created and launched the Bitcoin network). The Bitcoin network has been under active development since that time by a group of engineers known as core developers. The core developers are able to access, and can alter, the Bitcoin network source code and, as a result, they are responsible for quasi-official releases of updates and other changes to the Bitcoin network’s source code. The release of updates to the Bitcoin network’s source code does not guarantee that the updates will be automatically adopted. Users and miners must accept any changes made to the Bitcoin source code by downloading the proposed modification of the Bitcoin network’s source code. A modification of the Bitcoin network’s source code is effective only with respect to the Bitcoin users and miners that download it. If a modification is accepted by only a percentage of users and miners, a division in the Bitcoin network will occur such that one network will run the pre-modification source code and the other network will run the modified source code. Such a division is known as a “fork.”

Core development of the Bitcoin network source code has increasingly focused on modifications of the Bitcoin network protocol to increase speed and scalability and also allow for non-financial, next generation uses. For example, following the recent activation of Segregated Witness on the Bitcoin network, an alpha version of the Lightning Network was released. The Lightning Network is an open-source decentralized network that enables instant off-blockchain transfers of the ownership of Bitcoin without the need of a trusted third party. The system utilizes bidirectional payment channels that consist of multi-signature addresses. One on-blockchain transaction is needed to open a channel and another on-blockchain transaction can close the channel. Once a channel is open, value can be transferred instantly between counterparties who are engaging in real Bitcoin transactions without broadcasting them to the Bitcoin network. New transactions will replace previous transactions and the counterparties will store everything locally as long as the channel stays open to increase transaction throughput and reduce computational burden on the Bitcoin network. Other efforts include increased use of smart contracts and distributed registers built into, built atop or pegged alongside the Bitcoin blockchain. For example, the white paper for Blockstream, an organization that includes core developer Pieter Wuille, calls for the use of “pegged sidechains” to develop programming environments that are built within Bitcoin blockchain ledgers that can interact with and rely on the security of the Bitcoin network and the Bitcoin blockchain, while remaining independent from them. Open-source projects such as RSK are a manifestation of this concept and seek to create the first open-source, smart contract platform built on the Bitcoin blockchain to enable automated, condition-based payments with increased speed and scalability. The Fund’s activities will not directly relate to such projects, though such projects may utilize Bitcoin as tokens for the facilitation of their non-financial uses, thereby potentially increasing demand for Bitcoin and the utility of the Bitcoin network as a whole. Conversely, projects that operate and are built within the Blockchain may increase the data flow on the Bitcoin network and could either “bloat” the size of the Bitcoin blockchain or slow confirmation times. At this time, such projects remain in early stages and have not been materially integrated into the Bitcoin blockchain or the Bitcoin network.

The supply of new Bitcoin is mathematically controlled so that the number of Bitcoin grows at a limited rate pursuant to a pre-set schedule. The number of Bitcoin awarded for solving a new block is automatically halved after every 210,000 blocks are added to the Bitcoin blockchain. Currently, the fixed reward for solving a new block is 6.25 Bitcoin per block and this is expected to decrease by half to become 3.125 Bitcoin after the next 210,000 blocks have entered the Bitcoin network, which is expected to be May 2024. This deliberately controlled rate of Bitcoin creation means that the number of Bitcoin in existence will increase at a controlled rate until the number of Bitcoin in existence reaches the pre-determined 21 million Bitcoin. Estimates of when the 21 million Bitcoin limitation will be reached is estimated to be the year 2140.

Ethereum

Ethereum (“Ether” or “ETH”) is a digital asset that is created and transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer Ethereum network, a decentralized network of computers that operates on cryptographic protocols. No single entity owns or operates the Ethereum network, the infrastructure of which is collectively maintained by a decentralized user base. The Ethereum network allows people to exchange tokens of value, called Ethereum, which are recorded on a public transaction ledger known as a blockchain. ETH can be used to pay for goods and services, including computational power on the Ethereum network, or it can be converted to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates determined on Digital Asset Exchanges or in individual end-user-to-end-user transactions under a barter system. Furthermore, the Ethereum network also allows users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create digital assets other than ETH on the Ethereum network. Smart contract operations are executed on the Ethereum blockchain in exchange for payment of ETH. The Ethereum network is one of a number of projects intended to expand blockchain use beyond just a peer-to-peer money system.

The Ethereum network was originally described in a 2013 white paper by Vitalik Buterin, a programmer involved with Bitcoin, with the goal of creating a global platform for decentralized applications powered by smart contracts. The formal development of the Ethereum network began through a Swiss firm called Ethereum Switzerland GmbH in conjunction with several other entities.

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Subsequently, the Ethereum Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization, was set up to oversee the protocol’s development. The Ethereum network went live on July 30, 2015.

Smart Contracts and Development on the Ethereum Network

Smart contracts are programs that run on a blockchain that can execute automatically when certain conditions are met. Smart contracts facilitate the exchange of anything representative of value, such as money, information, property, or voting rights. Using smart contracts, users can send or receive digital assets, create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent ownership of property or a company, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create new digital assets.

Development on the Ethereum network and other smart contract platforms involves building more complex tools on top of smart contracts, such as decentralized apps (DApps) and organizations that are autonomous, known as decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). For example, a company that distributes charitable donations on behalf of users could hold donated funds in smart contracts that are paid to charities only if the charity satisfies certain pre-defined conditions.

Moreover, the Ethereum network has also been used as a platform for creating new digital assets and conducting their associated initial coin offerings. As of June 30, 2022, a majority of digital assets were built on the Ethereum network, with such assets representing a significant amount of the total market value of all digital assets.

The Ethereum network currently operates on a proof-of-work model and the supply of new ETH is mathematically controlled so that the number of ETH grows at a limited rate pursuant to a pre-set schedule. ETH issuances are currently capped at 16 million ETH per year or 2 ETH per block, but there is no aggregate cap on the total number of ETH outstanding. On August 4, 2021, the Ethereum network was upgraded via the London fork which notably contained EIP-1559, a protocol upgrade that implemented an ETH burn on every mined block. Since the implementation, over 2.6 million ETH have been burned resulting in a 56% reduction in new token issuance. The upgrade has also made ETH blocks deflationary at times, meaning more than 2 ETH were burned in a single block. The Ethereum network is and has been for a number of years making wholesale changes to its underlying protocol. Once these changes are finalized (referred to as “the Merge”), which is anticipated to occur in mid-September 2022, and the Ethereum network is intended to transition to a proof-of-stake model. The Merge may result in a hard fork of the Ethereum Network.

More recently, the Ethereum network and other smart contract platforms have been used for decentralized finance (DeFi) or open finance platforms, which seek to democratize access to financial services, such as borrowing, lending, custody, trading, derivatives, asset management and insurance, by removing third-party intermediaries. DeFi can allow users to lend and earn interest on their digital assets, exchange one digital asset for another and create derivative digital assets such as stablecoins, which are digital assets pegged to a reserve asset such as fiat currency. As of June 30, 2022, approximately 30 million ETH were locked up as collateral on DeFi platforms.

Cardano

Cardano (“ADA”) is a digital asset that is created and transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer Cardano network, a decentralized network of computers that operates on cryptographic protocols. No single entity owns or operates the Cardano network, the infrastructure of which is collectively maintained by a decentralized user base. The Cardano network allows people to exchange tokens of value, called ADA, which are recorded on a public transaction ledger known as a blockchain. ADA can be used to pay for goods and services, including computational power on the Cardano network, or it can be converted to fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, at rates determined on Digital Asset Exchanges or in individual end-user-to-end-user transactions under a barter system. Furthermore, the Cardano network was designed to allow users to write and implement smart contracts—that is, general-purpose code that executes on every computer in the network and can instruct the transmission of information and value based on a sophisticated set of logical conditions. Using smart contracts, users can create markets, store registries of debts or promises, represent the ownership of property, move funds in accordance with conditional instructions and create digital assets other than ADA on the Cardano network. When operational, smart contract operations are executed on the Cardano blockchain in exchange for payment of ADA. Like the Ethereum network, the Cardano network is one of a number of projects intended to expand blockchain use beyond just a peer-to-peer money system. On September 12, 2021, the Cardano network underwent the Alonzo upgrade to implement smart contracts on the protocol.

Cardano was founded by Charles Hoskinson, a co-founder of Ethereum, as a Proof-of-Stake alternative to the Proof-of-Work blockchains. The Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism provides lower energy consumption in the validation of the network and potentially faster transaction times. Development of the Cardano network is overseen by the Cardano Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization that administered the original network launch and token distribution. The Cardano Foundation has contracted IOHK, a company founded by Hoskinson, to continue building and maintaining the Cardano network.

Solana

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The Solana protocol introduced the Proof-of-History (“PoH”) consensus mechanism as an alternative to Proof-of-Stake (“PoS”) and Proof-of-Work (“PoW”) blockchains like Ethereum. PoH is a consensus mechanism that automatically orders on-chain transactions by creating a historical record that proves an event has occurred at a specific moment in time. PoH is intended to provide a transaction processing speed and capacity advantage over traditional PoW and PoS networks, which rely on sequential production of blocks and can lead to delays caused by validator confirmations. PoH is a new blockchain technology that is not widely used. PoH may not function as intended. For example, it may require more specialized equipment to participate in the network and fail to attract a significant number of users. In addition, there may be flaws in the cryptography underlying PoH, including flaws that affect functionality of the Solana network or make the network vulnerable to attack

The Solana protocol was first conceived by Anatoly Yakovenko in a 2017 whitepaper. Development of the Solana network is overseen by the Solana Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization, and Solana Labs, Inc., a Delaware corporation, which administered the original network launch and token distribution. Smart contract operations are executed on the Solana blockchain in exchange for payment of SOL.

On September 14, 2021, the Solana network experienced a significant disruption, later attributed to a type of denial of service attack, and was offline for 17 hours, only returning to full functionality 24 hours later. The Solana Network has also experienced significant disruptions throughout 2022—for example, in January, April, May and June. In February 2022, a vulnerability in a smart contract for Wormhole, a bridge between the Ethereum and Solana networks led to a $320 million theft of Ethereum. In August 2022, over 8,000 internet-connected “hot” Solana wallets were hacked, with millions of dollars’ worth of various digital assets stolen. While persons associated with Solana Labs and/or the Solana Foundation are understood to have played a key role in bringing the network back online, the broader community also played a key role, as Solana validators coordinated to upgrade and restart the network. The development of the Solana network is ongoing and any further disruption could have a material adverse effect on the value of SOL.

Avalanche

The Avalanche network was designed to allow users to write and implement smart contracts. Smart contract operations are executed on the Avalanche blockchain in exchange for payment of AVAX. Like the Ethereum network, the Avalanche network is one of a number of projects intended to expand blockchain use beyond just a peer-to-peer money system.

The Avalanche network uses a variation of a PoS consensus protocol. Unlike with other blockchains, whereby every validator node validates every transaction, each Avalanche validator is only required to validate what is known as the “Primary Network.” The Primary Network in turn secures the following three blockchains, which are each dedicated to a specific use and, together with the Primary Network, comprise the core Avalanche infrastructure: the Exchange (X) Chain, on which AVAX and other assets exist and are traded; the Platform (P) Chain, which coordinates validators and creates subnets (as defined below); and the Contract (C) Chain, which executes smart contracts.

Whereas all validators are required to validate the Primary Network and the three blockchains described above, active validators of the Primary Network may additionally elect to validate certain non-core blockchains (i.e., blockchains that are not fundamental to or necessary for the Avalanche Network to operate) of the Avalanche Platform. Avalanche uses a dynamic set of validators to validate the non-core blockchains (each such set of validators, a “subnet”). This integration functionality is intended to allow Avalanche users to tokenize and transact in any digital asset. Avalanche is reportedly one of the fastest networks when measured by transaction time-to-finality at relatively low transaction costs. The Avalanche Network was founded by Professor Emin Gün Sirer, a professor at Cornell University and launched in September 2020.

Forks and Airdrops

A “hard fork” of a Digital Asset Network occurs when there is a disagreement among users and validators or miners over modifications to a Digital Asset Network, which are typically made through software upgrades and subsequently accepted or rejected through downloads or lack thereof of the relevant software upgrade by users. If less than a substantial majority of users and validators or miners consent to a proposed modification, and the modification is not compatible with the software prior to its modification, a fork in the blockchain results, with one prong running the pre-modified software and the other running the modified software. The effect of such a fork is the existence of two versions of the relevant Digital Asset Network running in parallel, yet lacking interchangeability. After a fork, holders of the original digital asset typically end up holding equal amounts of the original digital asset and the new digital asset.

For example, in July 2017, Bitcoin “forked” into Bitcoin and a new digital asset, Bitcoin Cash, as a result of a several-year dispute over how to increase the speed and number of transactions that the Bitcoin network can process in a given time interval (i.e., transaction throughput).

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Forks may also occur after a significant security breach. For example, in June 2016, a smart contract developed and deployed on the Ethereum network was hacked and approximately $60 million worth of ETH were stolen, which resulted in most participants in the Ethereum ecosystem electing to adopt a hard fork that effectively reversed the hack. However, a minority of users continued to develop the old blockchain, now referred to as “Ethereum Classic” with the digital asset on that blockchain referred to as “ETC”. Ethereum Classic remains traded on several Digital Asset Exchanges.

Additionally, a fork could be introduced by an unintentional, unanticipated software flaw in the multiple versions of otherwise compatible software users run for any given digital asset. Such a fork could adversely affect the digital asset’s viability. It is possible, however, that a substantial number of users and validators or miners could adopt an incompatible version of the network while resisting community-led efforts to merge the two chains, resulting in a permanent fork.

In addition to forks, a digital asset may become subject to a similar occurrence known as an “airdrop.” In an airdrop, the promoters of a new digital asset announce to holders of another digital asset that they will be entitled to claim a certain amount of the new digital asset for free simply by virtue of having held the original digital asset at a certain point in time leading up to the airdrop. For example, in September 2020, the developers of UNI announced that anyone that had participated in a transaction on the Uniswap protocol as of September 1, 2020 could claim 400 UNI.

Fund Component Value

Digital Asset Exchange Valuation

The value of digital assets is determined by the value that various market participants place on digital assets through their transactions. The most common means of determining the value of a digital asset is by surveying one or more Digital Asset Exchanges where the digital asset is traded publicly and transparently (e.g., Bitstamp, Coinbase Pro, Kraken, LMAX Digital, and Binance.US). Additionally, there are over-the-counter dealers or market makers that transact in digital assets.

Digital Asset Exchange Public Market Data

On each online Digital Asset Exchange, digital assets are traded with publicly disclosed valuations for each executed trade, measured by one or more fiat currencies such as the U.S. dollar or Euro, or by the digital asset Bitcoin. Over-the-counter dealers or market makers do not typically disclose their trade data.

Effective as of July 5, 2022, upon adoption of the DLCS Methodology and following the Reference Rate Provider’s quarterly review of the Digital Asset Reference Rates, the Digital Asset Exchanges included in the Digital Asset Reference Rates are Coinbase Pro, FTX.US, Kraken, LMAX Digital, and Binance.US. As further described below, the Manager believes that each of these Digital Asset Exchanges takes steps to comply with applicable U.S. federal and state licensing requirements and practices regarding AML and KYC regulations.

Coinbase Pro: A U.S.-based exchange registered as a money services business (“MSB”) with FinCen and licensed as a virtual currency business under the NYDFS BitLicense as well as money transmitter in various U.S. states.

FTX.US: A U.S.-based exchange registered as an MSB with FinCen and licensed as a money transmitter in various U.S. states. FTX.US does not hold a BitLicense.

Kraken: A U.S.-based exchange registered as an MSB with FinCen and licensed as money transmitter in various U.S. states. Kraken does not hold a BitLicense.

LMAX Digital: A U.K.-based exchange registered as a broker with FCA. LMAX Digital does not hold a BitLicense.

Binance.US: A U.S.-based exchange registered as an MSB with FinCen and licensed as money transmitter in various U.S. states. Binance.US does not hold a BitLicense.

The below tables reflect the trading volume in Fund Components and market share of the Fund Component-U.S. dollar trading pairs of each of the Digital Asset Exchanges included in the Digital Asset Reference Rates as of July 5, 2022 upon adoption of the DLCS Methodology from February 1, 2018 (date of the first Creation Basket of the Fund) to July 5, 2022, unless otherwise stated:

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The domicile, regulation and legal compliance of the Digital Asset Exchanges used to determine the Digital Asset Reference Rates vary. For example, in 2017, the Reference Rate Provider removed two then-Constituent Exchanges from the Digital Asset Reference Rates in effect at the time—OKCoin and Bitfinex. OKCoin was removed after it suspended withdrawals of Bitcoin following a statement from the People’s Bank of China that instructed institutions not to provide cryptocurrency-related banking services. The Reference Rate Provider also removed Bitfinex, after it announced an indefinite pause on USD withdrawals and deposits on its exchange. Information regarding each Digital Asset Exchange may be found, where available, on the websites for such Digital Asset Exchanges, among other places.

Although each Digital Asset Reference Rate is designed to accurately capture the market price of the digital asset it tracks, third parties may be able to purchase and sell such digital assets on public or private markets not included among the constituent Digital Asset Exchanges of such Digital Asset Reference Rate, and such transactions may take place at prices materially higher or lower than the Digital Asset Reference Rate. Moreover, there may be variances in the prices of digital assets on the various Digital Asset Exchanges, including as a result of differences in fee structures or administrative procedures on different Digital Asset Exchanges.

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For example, based on data provided by the Reference Rate Provider, on any given day during the twelve months ended June 30, 2022, the maximum differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of Bitcoin on any single Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Index Price for Bitcoin used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.21% and the average of the maximum differentials of the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of each Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Index Price for Bitcoin used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.19%. During this same period, the average differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot prices of all the Digital Asset Exchanges used to calculate the Index Price for Bitcoin used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.0002%. Further, on any given day during the twelve months ended June 30, 2022, the maximum differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of Ethereum on any single Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Index Price for Ethereum used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.34% and the average of the maximum differentials of the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of each Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Index Price for Ethereum used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.28%. During this same period, the average differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot prices of all the Digital Asset Exchanges used to calculate the Index Price for Ethereum used prior to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.0001%. All Digital Asset Exchanges that were used to calculate the relevant Digital Asset Reference Rate throughout the period were considered in this analysis. To the extent such prices differ materially from the relevant Digital Asset Reference Rate, investors may lose confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the market price of Fund Components.

On any given day from July 1, 2022 to August 25, 2022, based on data provided by the Reference Rate Provider, the maximum differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of Bitcoin on any single Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Indicative Price for Bitcoin pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 3.99% and the average of the maximum differentials of the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of each Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Indicative Price for Bitcoin pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 3.97%. During this same period, the average differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot prices of all the Digital Asset Exchanges used to calculate the Indicative Price for Bitcoin pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.01%. Further, on any given day during the period from July 1, 2022 and August 25, 2022, the maximum differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of Ethereum on any single Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Indicative Price for Ethereum pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 8.04% and the average of the maximum differentials of the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot price of each Digital Asset Exchange used to calculate the Indicative Price for Ethereum pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 7.99%. During this same period, the average differential between the 4:00 p.m., New York time spot prices of all the Digital Asset Exchanges used to calculate the Indicative Price for Ethereum pursuant to the adoption of the DLCS Methodology was 0.16%. All Digital Asset Exchanges that were used to calculate the relevant Digital Asset Reference Rate throughout the period were considered in this analysis. To the extent such prices differ materially from the relevant Digital Asset Reference Rate, investors may lose confidence in the Shares’ ability to track the market price of Fund Components.

Digital Asset Reference Rates

The Fund values its digital assets for operational purposes by reference to Digital Asset Reference Rates and weightings within the Fund, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities. Each Digital Asset Reference Rate is a U.S. dollar- or BTC-denominated composite reference rate for the price of the applicable digital asset.

Historically, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component at any time has been the Index Price for such Fund Component, if the Reference Rate Provider in its sole discretion determined that it was able to determine such Index Price, or if not, the Old Indicative Price for such Fund Component as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the most recent business day, as determined by the Reference Rate Provider.

As of June 30, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component was an Index Price, except for DOT and AVAX, for which an Old Indicative Price was used.

Effective July 1, 2022, upon adoption of the DLCS Methodology, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component is the reference rate used by the Index Provider to constitute the DLCS. As of July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate used by the Index Provider for each Index Component is a volume-weighted average price in U.S. dollars for the Fund Component for the

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immediately preceding 60-minute period derived from data collected from Constituent Exchanges (such price, an “Indicative Price”). As such, as of July 1, 2022, the Digital Asset Reference Rate for each Fund Component is an Indicative Price.

The Index Provider may use Index Prices as the reference rate for an Index Component in the future, and if it does so, then the Manager will use an Index Price for the relevant Fund Component. The Manager expects that such Index Price would be calculated in the same manner as described above, except that it would cleanse and compile trade data used to determine the Indicative Price, instead of the Old Indicative Price.

The Manager believes the Reference Rate Provider’s selection process for Constituent Exchanges described below as well as, in the case of Index Prices, the methodology of each Index Price’s algorithm described below provides a more accurate picture of digital asset price movements than a simple average of Digital Asset Exchange spot prices, and that the weighting of digital asset prices on the Constituent Exchanges limits the inclusion of data that is influenced by temporary price dislocations that may result from technical problems, limited liquidity or fraudulent activity elsewhere in the digital asset spot market. By referencing multiple trading venues and weighting them based on trade activity, the Manager believes that the impact of any potential fraud, manipulation or anomalous trading activity occurring on any single venue is reduced.

Constituent Exchange Selection

The Constituent Exchanges used to derive Digital Asset Reference Rates are selected by the Reference Rate Provider utilizing a methodology that is guided by the International Organization of Securities Commissions (“IOSCO”) principles for financial benchmarks. For an exchange to become a Constituent Exchange, it must satisfy the criteria listed below:

A Digital Asset Exchange is removed from the Constituent Exchanges when it no longer satisfies the criteria for inclusion. The Reference Rate Provider does not currently include data from over-the-counter markets or derivatives platforms among the Constituent Exchanges. Over-the-counter data is not currently included because of the potential for trades to include a significant premium or discount paid for larger liquidity, which creates an uneven comparison relative to more active markets. There is also a higher potential for over-the-counter transactions to not be arms-length, and thus not be representative of a true market price. Digital asset derivative markets are also not currently included as the markets remain relatively thin. While the Reference Rate Provider has no plans to include data from over-the-counter markets or derivative platforms at this time, the Reference Rate Provider will consider IOSCO principles for financial benchmarks, the management of trading venues of digital asset derivatives and the aforementioned Inclusion Criteria when considering whether to include over-the-counter or derivative platform data in the future.

The Reference Rate Provider and the Manager have entered into an Index License Agreement governing the Manager’s use of the Digital Asset Reference Rates that are Index Prices. The Reference Rate Provider may adjust the calculation methodology for a Digital Asset Reference Rate without notice to, or consent of, the Fund or its shareholders. The Reference Rate Provider may decide to change the calculation methodology to maintain the integrity of the Index Price calculation should it identify or become aware of previously unknown variables or issues with the existing methodology that it believes could materially impact its performance and/or reliability. The Reference Rate Provider has sole discretion over the determination of Digital Asset Reference Rates and may change the methodologies for determining the Digital Asset Reference Rates from time to time. Shareholders will be notified of any material

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changes to the calculation methodology or the Digital Asset Reference Rates in the Fund’s current reports and will be notified of all other changes that the Manager considers significant in the Fund’s periodic reports. The Fund will determine the materiality of any changes to the Digital Asset Reference Rates on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with external counsel.

The Reference Rate Provider may change the trading venues that are used to calculate a Digital Asset Reference Rate or otherwise change the way in which a Digital Asset Reference Rate is calculated at any time. For example, the Reference Rate Provider has scheduled quarterly reviews in which it may add or remove Constituent Exchanges that satisfy or fail the criteria described above. The Reference Rate Provider does not have any obligation to consider the interests of the Manager, the Fund, the shareholders, or anyone else in connection with such changes. While the Reference Rate Provider is not required to publicize or explain the changes or to alert the Manager to such changes, it has historically notified the Fund of any material changes to the Constituent Exchanges, including any additions or removals of the Constituent Exchanges, in addition to issuing press releases in connection with the same in accordance with its index review and index change communication policies. The Manager will notify investors of any such material event by filing a current report on Form 8-K. Although the Digital Asset Reference Rate methodology is designed to operate without any manual intervention, rare events would justify manual intervention. Intervention of this kind would be in response to non-market-related events, such as the halting of deposits or withdrawals of funds on a Digital Asset Exchange, the unannounced closure of operations on a Digital Asset Exchange, insolvency or the compromise of user funds. In the event that such an intervention is necessary, the Reference Rate Provider would issue a public announcement through its website, API and other established communication channels with its clients.

Determination of Digital Asset Reference Rates

Effective as of July 1, 2022 all of the Digital Asset Reference Rates are Indicative Prices.

The Indicative Price is calculated by multiplying the average price on each Constituent Exchange by the trading volume on such Constituent Exchange for the prior 60 minutes as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, multiplied by the Constituent Exchange’s weighting based on trading volume relative to the other Constituent Exchanges included in the Reference Rate. Each Constituent Exchange is weighted relative to its share of trading volume to the trading volume of all Constituent Exchanges. As such, price inputs from Constituent Exchanges with higher trading volumes will be weighted more heavily in calculating the Indicative Price than price inputs from Constituent Exchanges with lower trading volumes. Price and volume inputs are weighted as received with no further adjustments made to the weighting of each exchange based on market anomalies observed on a Constituent Exchange or otherwise.

The Index Provider may also use Index Prices as the reference rate for an Index Component in the future, and if it does so, then the Manager will use an Index Price for the relevant Fund Component. When a Digital Asset Reference Rate is an Index Price, the Reference Rate Provider applies an algorithm to the trade data used to determine the Indicative Price. Each Digital Asset Reference Rate’s algorithm is expected to reflect a four-pronged methodology to calculate the Index Price from the Constituent Exchanges:

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The Reference Rate Provider formally re-evaluates the weighting algorithm quarterly, but maintains discretion to change the way in which an Index Price is calculated based on its periodic review or in extreme circumstances. The exact methodology to calculate each Index Price is generally publicly available on the Index Provider’s website. Each Index Price is designed to limit exposure to trading or price distortion of any individual Digital Asset Exchange that experiences periods of unusual activity or limited liquidity by discounting, in real-time, anomalous price movements at individual Digital Asset Exchanges.

Illustrative Example

For the purposes of illustration, outlined below are examples of how the attributes that impact weighting and adjustments in the aforementioned methodology may be utilized to generate an Index Price for a digital asset. The Constituent Exchanges for the Index Price of the digital asset are Coinbase Pro, Kraken, LMAX Digital and Bitstamp. The Index Price algorithm, as described above, accounts for manipulation at the outset by only including data from executed trades on Constituent Exchanges that charge trading fees. Then, the below-listed elements may impact the weighting of the Constituent Exchanges on the Index Price as follows:

Determination of Digital Asset Reference Rates When Indicative Prices and Index Prices are Unavailable

If the Digital Asset Reference Rate for a Fund Component becomes unavailable, or if the Manager determines in good faith that such Digital Asset Reference Rate does not reflect an accurate price for such Fund Component, then the Manager will, on a best efforts basis, contact the Reference Rate Provider to obtain the Digital Asset Reference Rate directly from the Reference Rate Provider.

If after such contact such Digital Asset Reference Rate remains unavailable or the Manager continues to believe in good faith that such Digital Asset Reference Rate does not reflect an accurate price for the relevant digital asset, the Manager will use the following cascading set of rules to calculate the Digital Asset Reference Rates for that Fund Component. For the avoidance of doubt, the Manager will employ the below rules sequentially and in the order as presented below, should one or more specific rule(s) fail:

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In the event of a fork, the Reference Rate Provider may calculate the Digital Asset Reference Rate based on a digital asset that the Manager does not believe to be the appropriate asset that is held by the Fund. In this event, the Manager has full discretion to use a different reference rate provider or calculate the Digital Asset Reference Rate itself using its best judgment.

The Manager may, in its sole discretion, select a different reference rate provider, select a different indicative or index price provided by the Reference Rate Provider or calculate the Indicative Price or Index Price by using the cascading set of rules set forth above.

Forms of Attack Against Digital Asset Networks

All networked systems are vulnerable to various kinds of attacks. As with any computer network, Digital Asset Networks contain certain flaws. For example, each Digital Asset Network of the Fund Components is vulnerable to a “51% attack” where, if a mining pool were to gain control of more than 50% of the hash rate for the applicable digital asset, a malicious actor would be able to gain full control of the network and the ability to manipulate such digital asset’s blockchain. Any future attacks on the digital assets held by the Fund could negatively impact the perceptions of the relevant Digital Asset Networks, the value of the fund components, and the value of the Shares.

In addition, many Digital Asset Networks have been subjected to a number of denial of service attacks, which has led to temporary delays in block creation and in the transfer of digital assets. Any similar attacks on a Digital Asset Network of a Fund Component that impacts the ability to transfer such Fund Component could have a material adverse effect on the price of such Fund Component and the value of the Shares.

Market Participants

Miners and Validators

Miners range from digital asset enthusiasts to professional mining operations that design and build dedicated machines and data centers, including mining pools, which are groups of miners that act cohesively and combine their processing power to solve blocks (in the case of proof-of-work) or stake coins (in the case of proof-of-stake). When a pool mines a new block, the pool operator receives the digital asset and, after taking a nominal fee, splits the resulting reward among the pool participants based on the processing power each of them contributed to mine such block. Mining pools provide participants with access to smaller, but steadier and more frequent, digital asset payouts.

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Proof-of-Work

Under a proof-of-work ecosystem, miners, through the use of a software program, engage in a set of prescribed complex mathematical calculations in order to add a block to the blockchain and thereby confirm transactions included in that block’s data. The mathematical solution to add, or “solve,” a block is called a hash. Miners validate unconfirmed transactions by adding the previously unconfirmed transactions to new blocks in the blockchain. Miners are incentivized to participate in proof-of-work ecosystems because the addition of a block creates new tokens of the applicable digital asset, which are awarded to miners that successfully solve the block.

The significant increase in the number of miners supporting the operations of Digital Asset Networks and the associated increase in mining capacity in recent years have radically increased the difficulty of finding a valid hash on any given digital asset’s network. In some respects, hashing is akin to a mathematical lottery, and miners that have devices with greater processing power (i.e., the ability to make more hash calculations per second) are more likely to be successful miners. Currently, the likelihood that an individual acting alone will be able to be solve a block, and thus be awarded digital asset tokens, is extremely low. As a result, although there are individual miners, the vast majority of mining is undertaken by professional mining operations and mining “pools,” which are groups of multiple miners that act cohesively and combine their processing power to solve blocks. When a pool solves a new block, the pool operator receives the digital asset reward and, after taking a nominal fee, splits the resulting amount among the pool participants based on the processing power they each contributed to solve for such block.

Proof-of-Stake

Unlike proof-of-work, in which miners expend computational resources to compete to validate transactions and are rewarded coins in proportion to the amount of computational resources expended, in proof-of-stake, miners (sometimes called validators) risk or “stake” coins to compete to be randomly selected to validate transactions and are rewarded coins in proportion to the amount of coins staked. Any malicious activity, such as validating multiple blocks, disagreeing with the eventual consensus or otherwise violating protocol rules, results in the forfeiture or “slashing” of a portion of the staked coins. Proof-of-stake is viewed as more energy efficient and scalable than proof-of-work and is sometimes referred to as “virtual mining.”

Proof-of-History

Proof-of-History is an alternative consensus mechanism to PoW and PoS. PoH is a consensus mechanism that automatically orders on-chain transactions by creating a historical record that proves an event has occurred at a specific moment in time. PoH is intended to provide a transaction processing speed and capacity advantage over traditional PoW and PoS networks, which rely on sequential production of blocks and can lead to delays caused by validator confirmations.

Investment and Speculative Sector

This sector includes the investment and trading activities of both private and professional investors and speculators. Historically, larger financial services institutions are publicly reported to have limited involvement in investment and trading in digital assets, although the participation landscape is beginning to change. Currently, there is relatively limited use of digital assets in the retail and commercial marketplace in comparison to relatively extensive use by speculators, and a significant portion of demand for digital assets is generated by speculators and investors seeking to profit from the short- or long-term holding of digital assets.

Retail Sector

The retail sector includes users transacting in direct peer-to-peer digital asset transactions through the direct sending of the digital assets over Digital Asset Networks. The retail sector also includes transactions in which consumers pay for goods or services from commercial or service businesses through direct transactions or third-party service providers, although the use of digital assets as a means of payment is still developing.

Service Sector

This sector includes companies that provide a variety of services including the buying, selling, payment processing and storing of digital assets. Bitstamp, Coinbase Pro, Kraken and LMAX Digital are some of the largest Digital Asset Exchanges by volume traded. Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, the Custodian for the Fund, is a digital asset custodian that provides custodial accounts that store digital assets for users. As a Digital Asset Network continues to grow in acceptance, it is anticipated that service providers will expand the currently available range of services and that additional parties will enter the service sector for Digital Asset Networks.

Competition

More than 20,000 other digital assets have been developed since the inception of Bitcoin, currently the most developed digital asset because of the length of time it has been in existence, the investment in the infrastructure that supports it, and the network of

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individuals and entities that are using Bitcoin in transactions. While digital assets, including the Fund Components, have enjoyed some success in their limited history, the aggregate value of outstanding Fund Components, excluding Bitcoin, is much smaller than that of Bitcoin and may be eclipsed by the more rapid development of other digital assets.

Not a Regulated Commodity Pool

The Fund will not trade, buy, sell or hold digital asset derivatives, including digital asset futures contracts, on any futures exchange. The Fund is authorized solely to take immediate delivery of actual digital assets or cash. The Manager does not believe the Fund’s activities are required to be regulated by the CFTC under the CEA as a “commodity pool” under current law, regulation and interpretation. The Fund will not be operated by a CFTC-regulated commodity pool operator because it will not trade, buy, sell or hold digital asset derivatives, including digital asset futures contracts, on any futures exchange. Investors in the Fund will not receive the regulatory protections afforded to investors in regulated commodity pools, nor may the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange or any futures exchange enforce its rules with respect to the Fund’s activities. In addition, investors in the Fund will not benefit from the protections afforded to investors in digital asset futures contracts on regulated futures exchanges.

Government Oversight

As digital assets have grown in both popularity and market size, the U.S. Congress and a number of U.S. federal and state agencies (including FinCEN, SEC, CFTC, FINRA, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the IRS and state financial institution regulators) have been examining the operations of digital asset networks, digital asset users and the Digital Asset Exchange Market, with particular focus on the extent to which digital assets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities or fund criminal or terrorist enterprises and the safety and soundness of exchanges or other service providers that hold digital assets for users. Many of these state and federal agencies have issued consumer advisories regarding the risks posed by digital assets to investors. President Biden’s March 9, 2022 Executive Order, asserting that technological advances and the rapid growth of the digital asset markets “necessitate an evaluation and alignment of the United States Government approach to digital assets,” signals an ongoing focus on digital asset policy and regulation in the United States. In addition, federal and state agencies, and other countries have issued rules or guidance about the treatment of digital asset transactions or requirements for businesses engaged in digital asset activity.

In addition, the SEC, U.S. state securities regulators and several foreign governments have issued warnings that digital assets sold in initial coin offerings may be classified as securities and that both those digital assets and initial coin offerings may be subject to securities regulations. Ongoing and future regulatory actions may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the Shares or the ability of the Fund to continue to operate. Additionally, U.S. state and federal, and foreign regulators and legislatures have taken action against virtual currency businesses or enacted restrictive regimes in response to adverse publicity arising from hacks, consumer harm, or criminal activity stemming from virtual currency activity.

In August 2021, the chairman of the SEC stated that he believed investors using digital asset trading platforms are not adequately protected, and that activities on the platforms can implicate the securities laws, commodities laws and banking laws, raising a number of issues related to protecting investors and consumers, guarding against illicit activity, and ensuring financial stability. The chairman expressed a need for the SEC to have additional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from “falling between regulatory cracks,” as well as for more resources to protect investors in “this growing and volatile sector.” The chairman called for federal legislation centering on digital asset trading, lending, and decentralized finance platforms, seeking “additional plenary authority” to write rules for digital asset trading and lending. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares—Regulatory changes or actions by the U.S. Congress or any U.S. federal or state agencies may affect the value of the Shares or restrict the use of one or more digital assets, mining activity or the operation of their networks or the Digital Asset Exchange Market in a manner that adversely affects the value of the Shares,” “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares—A determination that a digital asset is a “security” may adversely affect the value of such digital asset and the value of the Shares if such digital asset is a Fund Component” and “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares—Changes in SEC policy could adversely impact the value of the Shares.”

Various foreign jurisdictions have, and may continue to, in the near future, adopt laws, regulations or directives that affect a digital asset network, the Digital Asset Markets, and their users, particularly Digital Asset Exchanges and service providers that fall within such jurisdictions’ regulatory scope. For example:

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There remains significant uncertainty regarding foreign governments’ future actions with respect to the regulation of digital assets and Digital Asset Exchanges. Such laws, regulations or directives may conflict with those of the United States and may negatively impact the acceptance of one or more digital assets by users, merchants and service providers outside the United States and may therefore impede the growth or sustainability of the digital asset economy in the United States and globally, or otherwise negatively affect the value of digital assets held by the Fund. The effect of any future regulatory change on the Fund or the digital assets held by the Fund is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and adverse to the Fund and the value of the Shares.

See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Regulation of the Fund and the Shares—Regulatory changes or other events in foreign jurisdictions may affect the value of the Shares or restrict the use of one or more digital assets, mining activity or the operation of their networks or the Digital Asset Exchange Market in a manner that adversely affects the value of the Shares.”

Cayman Islands

Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorist and Proliferation Financing

In order to comply with legislation or regulations aimed at the prevention of money laundering and the countering of terrorist and proliferation financing the Fund is required to adopt and maintain procedures, and may require prospective investors to provide evidence to verify their identity, the identity of their beneficial owners/controllers (where applicable), and source of funds. Where permitted, and subject to certain conditions, the Fund may also rely upon a suitable person for the maintenance of these procedures (including the acquisition of due diligence information) or otherwise delegate the maintenance of such procedures to a suitable person (a “Relevant AML Person”).

The Fund, or the Relevant AML Person on the Fund’s behalf, reserve the right to request such information as is necessary to verify the identity of a prospective investor (i.e. a subscriber for or a transferee of interests in the Fund) and the identity of their beneficial owners/controllers (where applicable), and their source of subscription funds. Where the circumstances permit, the Fund, or the Relevant AML Person on the Fund’s behalf, may be satisfied that full due diligence is not required upon subscription where a relevant exemption applies under applicable law. However, detailed verification information may be required prior to the payment of any proceeds in respect of, or any transfer of, an interest in the Fund.

In the event of delay or failure on the part of the prospective investor in producing any information required for verification purposes, the Fund, or the Relevant AML Person on the Fund’s behalf, may refuse to accept the application, or if the application has already occurred, may suspend or redeem the interest, in which case any funds received will, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, be returned without interest to the account from which they were originally debited.

The Fund or the Relevant AML Person on the Fund’s behalf, also reserves the right to refuse to make any redemption or distribution payment to a holder of Fund interests if the Fund or the Relevant AML Person on the Fund’s behalf suspect or are advised that the payment of redemption or distribution proceeds to such interest holder may be non-compliant with applicable laws or regulations, or if such refusal is considered necessary or appropriate to ensure the compliance by the Fund or the Relevant AML Person with any applicable laws or regulations.

The Authority has a discretionary power to impose substantial administrative fines upon the Fund in connection with any breaches by the Fund of prescribed provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands, as amended and revised from time to time, and upon any manager or officer of the Fund who either consented to or connived in the breach, or to

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whose neglect the breach is proved to be attributable. To the extent any such administrative fine is payable by the Fund, the Fund will bear the costs of such fine and any associated proceedings.

If any person in the Cayman Islands knows or suspects or has reasonable grounds for knowing or suspecting that another person is engaged in criminal conduct or money laundering or is involved with terrorism or terrorist financing and property and the information for that knowledge or suspicion came to their attention in the course of business in the regulated sector, or other trade, profession, business or employment, the person will be required to report such knowledge or suspicion to (i) the Financial Reporting Authority of the Cayman Islands (“FRA”), pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Law (2020 Revision) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to criminal conduct or money laundering, or (ii) a police officer of the rank of constable or higher, or the FRA pursuant to the Terrorism Law (2018 Revision) of the Cayman Islands if the disclosure relates to involvement with terrorism or terrorist financing and property. Such a report shall not be treated as a breach of confidence or of any restriction upon the disclosure of information imposed by any enactment or otherwise.

Investors may obtain details (including contact details) of the current AML Compliance Officer, Money Laundering Reporting Officer and Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer of the Fund, by contacting the Manager.

Sanctions

The Fund is subject to laws that restrict it from dealing with entities, individuals, organizations and/or investments which are subject to applicable sanctions regimes.

Accordingly, the Fund will require the subscriber to represent and warrant, on a continuing basis, that it is not, and that to the best of its knowledge or belief its beneficial owners, controllers or authorized persons (“Related Persons”) (if any) are not; (i) named on any list of sanctioned entities or individuals maintained by the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) or pursuant to European Union (“EU”) and/or United Kingdom (“UK”) Regulations (as the latter are extended to the Cayman Islands by Statutory Instrument), (ii) operationally based or domiciled in a country or territory in relation to which sanctions imposed by the United Nations, OFAC, the EU and/or the UK apply, or (iii) otherwise subject to sanctions imposed by the United Nations, OFAC, the EU or the UK (including as the latter are extended to the Cayman Islands by Statutory Instrument) (collectively, a “Sanctions Subject”).

Where the subscriber or a Related Person is or becomes a Sanctions Subject, the Fund may be required immediately and without notice to the subscriber to cease any further dealings with the subscriber and/or the subscriber’s interest in the Fund until the subscriber or the relevant Related Person (as applicable) ceases to be a Sanctions Subject, or a license is obtained under applicable law to continue such dealings (a “Sanctioned Persons Event”). The Fund and the Manager shall have no liability whatsoever for any liabilities, costs, expenses, damages and/or losses (including but not limited to any direct, indirect or consequential losses, loss of profit, loss of revenue, loss of reputation and all interest, penalties and legal costs and all other professional costs and expenses) incurred by the subscriber as a result of a Sanctioned Persons Event.

In addition, should any investment made on behalf of the Fund subsequently become subject to applicable sanctions, the Fund may immediately and without notice to the subscriber cease any further dealings with that investment until the applicable sanctions are lifted or a license is obtained under applicable law to continue such dealings.

Private Funds Act Regulation

The Fund is registered and regulated as a private fund under the Private Funds Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “Private Funds Act”). The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (the “Authority”) has supervisory and enforcement powers to ensure the Fund’s compliance with the Private Funds Act. Regulation under the Private Funds Act will entail the filing of prescribed details and audited accounts annually with the Authority. As a regulated private fund, the Authority may at any time instruct the Fund to have its accounts audited and to submit them to the Authority within such time as the Authority specifies or to provide a one-off or periodic report to the Authority on certain matters requested by the Authority in the connection with the private fund in such form and within such time as the Authority specifies. In addition the Authority may ask the Manager to give the Authority such documents, statements or other information in respect of the Fund as the Authority may reasonably require to enable it to carry out its duty under the Private Funds Act.

However, as a regulated private fund the Fund will not be subject to supervision in respect of its investment activities or the constitution of its investment assets by the Authority or any other governmental authority in the Cayman Islands, although the Authority does have power to investigate the activities of the Fund in certain circumstances.

The Authority may take certain actions if it is satisfied that a regulated private fund is or is likely to become unable to meet its obligations as they fall due, or is carrying on business fraudulently or otherwise in a manner detrimental to the public interest or to the interests of its investors or creditors, or is carrying on or is attempting to carry on business or is winding up of its business voluntarily in a manner that is prejudicial to its investors or creditors. The powers of the Authority include, inter alia, the power to require the

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substitution of the Manager, to appoint a person to advise the Fund on the proper conduct of its affairs or to appoint a person to assume control of the affairs of the Fund. There are other remedies available to the Authority including the ability to apply to court for approval of other actions.

The costs of registration of the Fund in the Cayman Islands and any costs, including legal costs and any registration or other fees payable to the Authority or any other governmental authority in the Cayman Islands, shall be incurred by the Manager.

Neither the Authority nor any other governmental authority in the Cayman Islands has commented upon or approved the terms of this document or the merits of an investment in the Fund. There is no investment compensation scheme available in the Cayman Islands to investors.

Beneficial Ownership Regime

The Fund is registered as a private fund under the Private Funds Act and, accordingly, does not fall within the scope of the primary obligations under Part 12 of the Limited Liability Companies Act (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands (the “LLC Act”) (the “Beneficial Ownership Regime”). The Fund is therefore not required to maintain a beneficial ownership register. The Fund may, however, be required from time to time to provide, on request, certain particulars to other Cayman Islands entities which are within the scope of the Beneficial Ownership Regime and which are therefore required to maintain beneficial ownership registers under the Beneficial Ownership Regime. It is anticipated that such particulars will generally be limited to the identity and certain related particulars of (i) any person holding (or controlling through a joint arrangement) a majority of the voting rights in respect of the Fund; (ii) any person who is a member of the Fund and who has the right to appoint and remove a majority of the managers of the Fund; and (iii) any person who has the right to exercise, or actually exercises, dominant direct influence or control over the Fund.

Description of the Fund

The Fund was constituted on January 25, 2018 as a Cayman Islands limited liability company under the LLC Act. A Cayman Islands limited liability company is constituted by the filing with the Registrar of Limited Liability Companies a registration statement signed by or on behalf of any person forming the limited liability company and the payment of a registration fee.

From the date of registration, a limited liability company such as the Fund is considered a body corporate (with legal personality separate from that of its members from time to time) having the name contained in the certificate of registration, capable of exercising all the functions of a natural person of full capacity irrespective of any questions of corporate benefit and, without limitation, having perpetual succession, the capacity to sue and to be sued, defend legal proceedings in its name, and with power to acquire, hold and dispose of property and to incur liabilities and obligations but with such liability on the part of the members to contribute to the assets of the limited liability company in the event of its being wound up as provided pursuant to the LLC Act.

The Fund operates pursuant to the LLC Agreement. The Shares represent units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in, and ownership of, the Fund, with such relative rights and terms as set out in the LLC Agreement. In general, the Fund holds Fund Components, Forked Assets and cash in U.S. dollars and is expected from time to time to issue Baskets in exchange for contributions of Fund Components and cash and, subject to the Fund’s obtaining regulatory approval from the SEC to operate an ongoing redemption program and registering with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority (to the extent required) and the consent of the Manager, to distribute Fund Components and cash in connection with redemptions of Baskets.

The Fund is not a registered investment company under the Investment Company Act and the Manager believes that the Fund is not required to register under the Investment Company Act. The Fund will not hold or trade in commodity futures contracts or other derivative contracts regulated by the CEA, as administered by the CFTC. The Manager believes that the Fund is not a commodity pool for purposes of the CEA, and that the Manager is not subject to regulation as a commodity pool operator or a commodity trading adviser in connection with the operation of the Fund.

The Fund creates Shares from time to time but only in Baskets. A Basket equals a block of 100 Shares. The number of outstanding Shares is expected to increase from time to time as a result of the creation of Baskets. The creation of a Basket will require the delivery to the Fund or of the Basket Amount, which is the sum of the Fund Component Basket Amounts for all Fund Components then held by the Fund, the Forked Asset Portion, if any, and the Cash Portion. See “—Creation of Shares” for more information on the calculation of the Basket Amount.

Although the redemption of Shares is provided for in the LLC Agreement, the redemption of Shares is not currently permitted and the Fund does not currently operate a redemption program. Subject to receipt of regulatory approval from the SEC and approval by the Manager in its sole discretion, the Fund may in the future operate a redemption program. Because the Fund does not believe that the SEC would, at this time, entertain an application for the waiver of rules needed in order to operate an ongoing redemption program, the Fund currently has no intention of seeking regulatory approval from the SEC to operate an ongoing redemption program. Even if such relief is sought in the future, no assurance can be given as to the timing of such relief or that such relief will be granted. If such relief is

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granted and the Manager approves a redemption program for the Fund, the Shares will be redeemable in accordance with the provisions of the LLC Agreement and the Participant Agreement. Although the Manager cannot predict with certainty what effect, if any, the operation of a redemption program would have on the value of the Shares, a redemption program would allow Authorized Participants to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities created when the market value of the Shares deviates from the value of the Fund Components, less the Fund’s expenses and other liabilities, which may have the effect of reducing any premium at which the Shares trade on OTCQX over such value or cause the Shares to trade at a discount to such value, from time to time.

Initially, each Share represented approximately 0.0005 BTC, 0.0030 ETH, 1.1941 XRP, 0.0005 BCH and 0.0017 LTC. As of June 30, 2022, each Share represents approximately 0.0004 of one BTC, 0.0025 of one ETH, 0.6880 of one ADA, 0.0070 of one SOL, 0.0207 of one DOT, 0.0056 of one AVAX, 0.0015 of one LTC, 0.0147 of one UNI, 0.0100 of one LINK and 0.0004 of one BCH. Effective July 1, 2022, the Manager adopted the DLCS Methodology and adjusted the Fund’s portfolio by selling the existing Fund Components in proportion to their respective weightings and using the cash proceeds to purchase new Fund Components in accordance with the DLCS Methodology. As of the end of the day on July 7, 2022, each Share represented 0.0004 of one BTC, 0.0026 of one ETH, 0.7161 of one ADA, 0.0073 of one SOL, and 0.0060 of one AVAX. The number of Fund Components required to create or, if permitted, to redeem a Basket is expected to gradually decrease over time due to the transfer or sale of the Fund’s Fund Components to pay the Manager’s Fee and any Additional Fund Expenses. The Shares are restricted shares and Authorized Participants may sell the Shares they purchase from the Fund to other investors only in transactions exempt from registration under the Securities Act. For a discussion of risks relating to the unavailability of a redemption program, see “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares—Because of the holding period under Rule 144, the lack of an ongoing redemption program and the Fund’s ability to halt creations from time to time. there is no arbitrage mechanism to keep the value of the Shares closely linked to the Digital Asset Reference Rates and the Shares have historically traded at a substantial premium over, or substantial discount to, the Digital Asset Holdings per Share” The Manager will determine the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings on each business day as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, or as soon thereafter as practicable. The Manager will also determine the Digital Asset Holdings per Share, which equals the Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund divided by the number of outstanding Shares. Each business day, the Manager will publish the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share on the Fund’s website, https://grayscale.com/products/grayscale-digital-large-cap-fund/, as soon as practicable after the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share have been determined by the Manager. See “Valuation of Digital Assets and Determination of Digital Asset Holdings.”

Pricing information is available on a 24-hour basis from various financial information service providers or digital asset information sites such as Tradeblock.com or CoinCap.io. The spot prices and bid/ask spreads for several digital assets may also generally available directly from Digital Asset Exchanges, such as Bitstamp, Coinbase Pro, Kraken, LMAX Digital, and Binance.US.

The Fund has no fixed termination date.

Service Providers of the Fund

The Manager

The Fund’s Manager is Grayscale Investments, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company formed on May 29, 2013 and a wholly owned subsidiary of DCG. The Manager’s principal place of business is 290 Harbor Drive, 4th Floor, Stamford, CT 06902 and its telephone number is (212) 668-1427. Under the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act and the governing documents of the Manager, DCG, the sole member of the Manager, is not responsible for the debts, obligations and liabilities of the Manager solely by reason of being the sole member of the Manager.

The Manager is neither an investment adviser registered with the SEC nor a commodity pool operator registered with the CFTC, and will not be acting in either such capacity with respect to the Fund, and the Manager’s provision of services to the Fund will not be governed by the Investment Advisers Act or the CEA.

The Manager arranged for the creation of the Fund and the quotation of the Shares on OTCQX. As partial consideration for its receipt of the Manager’s Fee from the Fund, the Manager is obligated to pay the Manager-paid Expenses. The Manager also paid the costs of the Fund’s organization and the initial sale of the Shares.

The Manager is generally responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Fund under the provisions of the LLC Agreement. This includes (i) preparing and providing periodic reports and financial statements on behalf of the Fund to investors, (ii) processing orders to create Baskets and coordinating the processing of such orders with the Custodian and the Transfer Agent, (iii) calculating and publishing the Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund and the Digital Asset Holdings per Share each business day as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, or as soon thereafter as practicable, (iv) selecting and monitoring the Fund’s service providers and from time to time engaging additional, successor or replacement service providers, (v) instructing the Custodian to transfer the Fund’s digital assets, cash and/or Forked Assets, as needed to pay the Manager’s Fee and any Additional Fund Expenses, (vi) upon dissolution of the Fund, distributing the Fund’s remaining digital assets (including Fund Components and/or Forked Assets) or the cash proceeds of the sale of digital assets, as well as any of the cash held by the Fund at such time, to the owners of record of the Shares and (vii) establishing the principal market

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for each Fund Component of the Fund for GAAP purposes. In addition, if there is a fork in the network of any Fund Component held by the Fund, the Manager will use its discretion to determine, in good faith, which peer-to-peer network, among a group of incompatible forks of such network, is generally accepted as the network for such Fund Component and should therefore be considered the appropriate network for such Fund Component for the Fund’s purposes.

The Manager does not store, hold, or maintain custody or control of the Fund’s digital assets but instead has entered into the Custodian Agreement with the Custodian to facilitate the security of the Fund’s digital assets.

The Manager has sole discretion to replace the DLCS with a different Large Cap index and sole discretion to replace the Index Provider with a different Large Cap index provider, and may replace either the DLCS or the Index Provider from time to time. In addition, the Manager may, in its sole discretion, select a different reference rate provider, select a different reference rate provided by the Reference Rate Provider, subject to the Manager’s obligations under the Index License Agreement, or calculate the Digital Asset Reference Rates by using the cascading set of rules set forth under “—Digital Asset Reference Rates—Determination of Digital Asset Reference Rates When Indicative Prices and Index Prices are Unavailable”.

Distribution and Marketing Agreement

The Manager has entered into a Distribution and Marketing Agreement with Genesis Global Trading, Inc. (“Genesis”) to assist the Manager in developing an ongoing marketing plan for the Fund; preparing marketing materials regarding the Shares, including the content on the Fund’s website, https://grayscale.com/products/grayscale-digital-large-cap-fund/, executing a marketing plan for the Fund; and providing strategic and tactical research to the Fund on Digital Asset Markets.

Index License Agreement

The Reference Rate Provider and the Manager have entered into an index license agreement (the “Index License Agreement”) governing the Manager’s use of various indices for calculation of the Digital Asset Reference Rates that are Index Prices. The Reference Rate Provider may adjust the calculation methodology for a Digital Asset Reference Rate without notice to, or consent of, the Fund or its shareholders. Under the Index License Agreement, the Manager pays a monthly fee and a fee based on the Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund to the Reference Rate Provider in consideration of its license to the Manager of Digital Asset Reference Rate-related intellectual property. The Index License Agreement will automatically renew on an annual basis. The Index License Agreement is terminable by either party upon written notice in the event of a material breach that remains uncured for thirty days after initial written notice of such breach. Further, either party may terminate the Index License Agreement immediately upon notice under certain circumstances, including with respect to the other party’s (i) insolvency, bankruptcy or analogous event or (ii) violation of money transmission, taxation or trading regulations that materially adversely affect either party’s ability to perform under the Index License Agreement.

The Transfer Agent

Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a Delaware corporation, serves as the Transfer Agent of the Fund pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Transfer Agency and Service Agreement. The Transfer Agent has its principal office at 1 State Street, 30th Floor, New York, NY 10004. A copy of the Transfer Agency and Service Agreement is available for inspection at the Manager’s principal office identified herein.

The Transfer Agent holds the Shares primarily in book-entry form. The Manager directs the Transfer Agent to credit the number of Creation Baskets to the investor on behalf of which an Authorized Participant submitted a creation order. The Transfer Agent will issue Creation Baskets. The Transfer Agent will also assist with the preparation of shareholders’ account and tax statements.

The Manager will indemnify and hold harmless the Transfer Agent, and the Transfer Agent will incur no liability for the refusal, in good faith, to make transfers which it, in its judgment, deems improper or unauthorized.

Fees paid to the Transfer Agent are a Manager-paid Expense.

Authorized Participants

An Authorized Participant must enter into a “Participant Agreement” with the Manager and the Fund to govern its placement of orders to create (and, should the Fund commence a redemption program, redeem) Baskets. The Participant Agreement sets forth the procedures for the creation and redemption of Baskets and for the delivery of digital assets required for creations and redemptions. A copy of the form of Participant Agreement is available for inspection at the Manager’s principal office identified herein.

Each Authorized Participant must (i) be a registered broker-dealer, (ii) enter into a Participant Agreement with the Manager and (iii) own a digital asset wallet address that is known to the Custodian as belonging to the Authorized Participant. A list of the current Authorized Participants can be obtained from the Manager. As of the date of this Annual Report, Genesis is the only acting Authorized Participant. The Manager intends to engage additional Authorized Participants who are unaffiliated with the Fund in the future.

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No Authorized Participant has any obligation or responsibility to the Manager or the Fund to effect any sale or resale of Shares.

The Custodian

Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC is a fiduciary under § 100 of the New York Banking Law and a qualified custodian for purposes of Rule 206(4)-2(d)(6) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended. The Custodian is authorized to serve as the Fund’s custodian under the LLC Agreement and pursuant to the terms and provisions of the Custodian Agreement. The Custodian has its principal office at 200 Park Avenue South, Suite 1208, New York, NY 10003. A copy of the Custodian Agreement is available for inspection at the Manager’s principal office identified herein.

Under the Custodian Agreement, the Custodian controls and secures the Fund’s “Digital Asset Account,” a segregated custody account to store private keys, which allow for the transfer of ownership or control of the Fund Components, on the Fund’s behalf. The Custodian’s services (i) allow Fund Components to be deposited from a public blockchain address to the Fund’s Digital Asset Account and (ii) allow the Fund or Manager to withdraw Fund Components from the Fund’s Digital Asset Account to a public blockchain address the Fund or Manager controls (the “Custodial Services”). The Digital Asset Account uses offline storage, or “cold” storage, mechanisms to secure the Fund’s private keys. The term cold storage refers to a safeguarding method by which the private keys corresponding to digital assets are disconnected and/or deleted entirely from the internet.

The Custodian will withdraw from the Fund’s Digital Asset Account the number of Fund Components necessary to pay the Fund’s expenses.

Fees paid to the Custodian are a Manager-paid Expense.

Under the Custodian Agreement, each of the Custodian and the Fund has agreed to indemnify and hold harmless the other party from any third-party claim or third-party demand (including reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and any fines, fees or penalties imposed by any regulatory authority) arising out of or related to the Custodian’s or the Fund’s, as the case may be, breach of the Custodian Agreement, inaccuracy in any of the Custodian’s or the Fund’s, as the case may be, representations or warranties in the Custodian Agreement, or the Fund’s violation, or the Custodian’s knowing violation, of any law, rule or regulation, or the rights of any third party, except where such claim directly results from the gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct of the other such party. In addition, the Fund has agreed to indemnify the Custodian with respect to any Forked Assets abandoned by the Fund and any tax liability relating thereto or arising therefrom.

The Custodian and its affiliates may from time to time purchase or sell Fund Components for their own accounts and as agent for their customers or Shares for their own accounts. The foregoing notwithstanding, Fund Components in the Digital Asset Account are not treated as general assets of the Custodian and cannot be commingled with any other digital assets held by the Custodian. The Custodian serves as a fiduciary and custodian on the Fund’s behalf, and the Fund Components in the Digital Asset Account are considered fiduciary assets that remain the Fund’s property at all times.

Once each calendar year, the Manager or the Fund may request that the Custodian deliver a certificate signed by a duly authorized officer to certify that all representations and warranties made by the Custodian in the Custodian Agreement are true and correct on and as of the date of such certificate, and have been true and correct throughout the preceding year. In addition, the Custodian has agreed to allow the Fund and the Manager to take any necessary steps to verify that satisfactory internal control system and procedures are in place, and to visit and inspect the systems on which the Custodian’s coins are held.

If the Custodian resigns in its capacity as custodian, the Manager may appoint an additional or replacement custodian and enter into a custodian agreement on behalf of the Fund with such custodian. Furthermore, the Manager and the Fund may use Fund Components custody services or similar services provided by entities other than Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC at any time without prior notice to Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC.

The Distributor and Marketer

Genesis Global Trading, Inc., a Delaware corporation, is the distributor and marketer of the Shares. Genesis is a registered broker-dealer with the SEC and is a member of FINRA.

In its capacity as distributor and marketer, Genesis assists the Manager in developing an ongoing marketing plan for the Fund; preparing marketing materials regarding the Shares, including the content on the Fund’s website; executing the marketing plan for the Fund; and providing strategic and tactical research to the Fund on the Digital Asset Markets. Genesis and the Manager are affiliates of one another.

The Manager has entered into a Distribution and Marketing Agreement with Genesis.

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The Manager may engage additional or successor distributors and marketers in the future.

Custody of the Fund’s Digital Assets

Digital assets and digital asset transactions are recorded and validated on blockchains, the public transaction ledgers of a Digital Asset Network. Each digital asset blockchain serves as a record of ownership for all of the units of such digital asset, even in the case of certain privacy-preserving digital assets, where the transactions themselves are not publicly viewable. All digital assets recorded on a blockchain are associated with a public blockchain address, also referred to as a digital wallet. Digital assets held at a particular public blockchain address may be accessed and transferred using a corresponding private key.

Key Generation

Public addresses and their corresponding private keys are generated by the Custodian in secret key generation ceremonies at secure locations inside faraday cages, which are enclosures used to block electromagnetic fields and thus mitigate against attacks. The Custodian uses quantum random number generators to generate the public and private key pairs.

Once generated, private keys are encrypted, separated into “shards” and then further encrypted. After the key generation ceremony, all materials used to generate private keys, including computers, are destroyed. All key generation ceremonies are performed offline. No party other than the Custodian has access to the private key shards of the Fund.

Key Storage

Private key shards are distributed geographically in secure vaults around the world, including in the United States. The locations of the secure vaults may change regularly and are kept confidential by the Custodian for security purposes.

The Digital Asset Account uses offline storage, or “cold storage,” mechanisms to secure the Fund’s private keys. The term cold storage refers to a safeguarding method by which the private keys corresponding to digital assets are disconnected and/or deleted entirely from the internet. Cold storage of private keys may involve keeping such keys on a non-networked (or “air-gapped”) computer or electronic device or storing the private keys on a storage device (for example, a USB thumb drive) or printed medium (for example, papyrus, paper or a metallic object). A digital wallet may receive deposits of digital assets but may not send digital assets without use of the digital assets’ corresponding private keys. In order to send digital assets from a digital wallet in which the private keys are kept in cold storage, either the private keys must be retrieved from cold storage and entered into an online, or “hot,” digital asset software program to sign the transaction, or the unsigned transaction must be transferred to the cold server in which the private keys are held for signature by the private keys and then transferred back to the online digital asset software program. At that point, the user of the digital wallet can transfer its digital assets.

Security Procedures

The Custodian is the custodian of the Fund’s private keys in accordance with the terms and provisions of the Custodian Agreement. Transfers from the Digital Asset Account requires certain security procedures, including but not limited to, multiple encrypted private key shards, usernames, passwords and 2-step verification. Multiple private key shards held by the Custodian must be combined to reconstitute the private key to sign any transaction in order to transfer the Fund’s assets. Private key shards are distributed geographically in secure vaults around the world, including in the United States.

As a result, if any one secure vault is ever compromised, this event will have no impact on the ability of the Fund to access its assets, other than a possible delay in operations, while one or more of the other secure vaults is used instead. These security procedures are intended to remove single points of failure in the protection of the Fund’s assets.

Transfers of Fund Components to the Digital Asset Account will be available to the Fund once processed on the relevant blockchain.

Subject to obtaining regulatory approval to operate a redemption program and authorization of the Manager, the process of accessing and withdrawing Fund Components from the Fund to redeem a Basket by an Authorized Participant will follow the same general procedure as transferring Fund Components to the Fund to create a Basket by an Authorized Participant, only in reverse. See “Description of Creation of Shares.”

Description of the Shares

The Fund is authorized under the LLC Agreement to create and issue an unlimited number of Shares. Shares will be issued only in Baskets (a Basket equals a block of 100 Shares) in connection with creations. The Shares represent equal, fractional, undivided interest in, the profits, losses, distributions, capital and assets of and ownership of the Fund with such relative rights and terms as set out in the LLC Agreement. The Shares are quoted on OTCQX under the ticker symbol “GDLC.”

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Description of Limited Rights

The Shares do not represent a traditional investment and should not be viewed as similar to “shares” of a corporation operating a business enterprise with management and a board of directors. A shareholder will not have the statutory rights normally associated with the ownership of shares of a corporation. Each Share is transferable, is fully paid and non-assessable and entitles the holder to vote on the limited matters upon which shareholders may vote under the LLC Agreement. For example, shareholders do not have the right to remove the Manager. The Shares do not entitle their holders to any conversion or pre-emptive rights or, except as discussed below, any redemption rights or rights to distributions.

Voting and Approvals

Under the LLC Agreement, shareholders have limited voting rights. For example, in the event that the Manager withdraws, a majority of the shareholders may elect and appoint a successor manager to carry out the affairs of the Fund. In addition, no amendments to the LLC Agreement that materially adversely affect the interests of shareholders may be made without the vote of at least a majority (over 50%) of the Shares (not including any Shares held by the Manager or its affiliates). However, the Manager may make any other amendments to the LLC Agreement in its sole discretion without shareholder consent, provided that the Manager provides 20 days’ notice of any such amendment.

Distributions

Pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement, the Fund may make distributions on the Shares in-cash or in-kind, including in such form as is necessary or permissible for the Fund to facilitate its shareholders’ access to any Forked Assets.

In addition, if the Fund is wound up, liquidated and dissolved, the Manager will distribute to the shareholders any amounts of the cash proceeds of the liquidation of the Fund’s assets remaining after the satisfaction of all outstanding liabilities of the Fund and the establishment of reserves for applicable taxes, other governmental charges and contingent or future liabilities as the Manager will determine. See “Description of the LLC Agreement—Termination of the Fund.” Shareholders of record on the record date fixed by the Transfer Agent for a distribution will be entitled to receive their pro rata portions of any distribution.

Forked Assets; Appointment of Agent

Pursuant to the terms of the LLC Agreement, the Fund may take any lawful action necessary or desirable in connection with its ownership of Forked Assets. These actions may include (i) selling in the Digital Asset Markets Forked Assets and distributing the cash proceeds to shareholders, (ii) distributing Forked Assets in-kind to the shareholders or to an agent acting on behalf of the shareholders for sale by such agent if an in-kind distribution would otherwise be infeasible, (iii) irrevocably abandoning Forked Assets and (iv) holding Forked Assets until the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period, at which point the Manager may take any of the foregoing actions.

On July 29, 2019, the Manager delivered to the Custodian the Pre-Creation Abandonment Notice stating that the Fund is abandoning irrevocably for no direct or indirect consideration, effective immediately prior to each Creation Time, all Forked Assets to which it would otherwise be entitled as of such time, provided that a Pre-Creation Abandonment will not apply to any Forked Assets if (i) the Fund has taken, or is taking at such time, an Affirmative Action to acquire or abandon such Forked Assets at any time prior to such Creation Time or (ii) such Forked Assets has been subject to a previous Pre-Creation Abandonment. An Affirmative Action is a written notification from the Manager to the Custodian of the Fund’s intention (i) to acquire and/or retain a Forked Asset or (ii) to abandon any Forked Assets with effect prior to the relevant Creation Time.

For Forked Assets with respect to which the Manager takes an Affirmative Action to acquire such Forked Asset, the Manager currently expects that it would (a) distribute the Forked Asset in-kind to an agent on behalf of shareholders of record on a specified record date for sale by such agent or (b) monitor the Forked Asset from the date of the relevant fork, airdrop or similar event, or the date on which the Manager becomes aware of such event, leading up to, but not necessarily until, the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period.

In the case of option (a), the shareholders’ agent would attempt to sell the Forked Asset, and if the agent is able to do so, remit the cash proceeds, net of expenses and applicable withholding taxes, to the relevant record date shareholders. The Manager may cause the Fund to appoint Grayscale Investments, LLC (acting other than in its capacity as Manager) or any of its affiliates to act as such agent. Any agent appointed to facilitate a distribution of Forked Assets will receive an in-kind distribution of Forked Assets on behalf of the shareholders of record with respect to such distribution, and following receipt of such distribution, will determine whether and when to sell the distributed Forked Assets on behalf of the record date shareholders. There can be no assurance as to the price or prices for any Forked Asset that the agent may realize, and the value of the Forked Asset may increase or decrease after any sale by the agent.

The Manager expects that any agent so appointed would not receive any compensation in connection with its role as agent, but would be entitled to receive from the record-date shareholders, out of the distributed Forked Assets, an amount of Forked Assets with an aggregate fair market value equal to the amount of administrative and other reasonable expenses incurred by the agent in connection

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with its activities as agent of the record-date shareholders, including expenses incurred by the agent in connection with any post-distribution sale of such Forked Assets. Should the Manager determine to distribute Forked Assets to an agent on behalf of shareholders to facilitate the distribution of Forked Assets in-kind, the Manager currently expects to cause the Fund to appoint Grayscale Investments, LLC, acting other than in its capacity as Manager, to act in such capacity.

In the case of option (b), leading up to the subsequent Fund Rebalancing Period, if the sale of such Forked Asset is economically and technologically feasible, the Manager currently expects to cause the Fund to sell such Forked Asset and use the cash proceeds to purchase additional tokens of the Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings. If the sale of a Forked Asset is either economically or technologically infeasible at the time of the next Fund Rebalancing Period, the Manager may cause the Fund to abandon or continue holding such Forked Asset until such time as the sale is economically and technologically feasible, as determined by the Manager, in its sole discretion. In addition, the Manager may determine that a Forked Asset has a high probability of qualifying for inclusion in the Fund’s portfolio once it has been trading for three months and can thus meet the liquidity requirements of the DLCS Methodology. Should the Manager make such determination, the Manager may, in its discretion, cause the Fund to continue to hold the Forked Asset until such time as the Manager determines to sell or abandon the Forked Asset or to include the Forked Asset in the Fund’s portfolio as a Fund Component. In the case of abandonment of Forked Assets, the Fund would not receive any direct or indirect consideration for the Forked Assets and thus the value of the Shares will not reflect the value of the Forked Assets.

Creation of Shares

The Fund creates Shares such times and for such periods as determined by the Manager, but only in one or more whole Baskets. A Basket equals 100 Shares. See “Description of Creation of Shares.” The creation of a Basket requires the delivery to the Fund of the number of Fund Components represented by one Share immediately prior to such creation multiplied by 100. The Fund may from time to time halt creations for a variety of reasons, including in connection forks, airdrops and other similar occurrences.

Redemption of Shares

Redemptions of Shares are currently not permitted and the Fund is unable to redeem Shares. Subject to receipt of regulatory approval from the SEC, approval by the Manager in its sole discretion and registration, to the extent required, with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority under the laws and regulations of the Cayman Islands after making such modifications to the LLC Agreement as may be necessary to effect such registration, the Fund may in the future operate a redemption program. Because the Fund does not believe that the SEC would, at this time, entertain an application for the waiver of rules needed in order to operate an ongoing redemption program, the Fund currently has no intention of seeking regulatory approval from the SEC to operate an ongoing redemption program.

Even if such relief is sought in the future, no assurance can be given as to the timing of such relief or that such relief will be granted. If such relief is granted and the Manager approves a redemption program, the Shares will be redeemable only in accordance with the provisions of the LLC Agreement and the relevant Participant Agreement. See “Item 1A. Risk Factors—Risk Factors Related to the Fund and the Shares—Because of the holding period under Rule 144, the lack of an ongoing redemption program, and the Fund’s ability to halt creations from time to time, there is no arbitrage mechanism to keep the value of the Shares closely linked to the Digital Asset Reference Rates and the Shares have historically traded at a substantial premium over, or substantial discount to, the Digital Asset Holdings per Share.”

Transfer Restrictions

Shares purchased in the private placement are restricted securities that may not be resold except in transactions exempt from registration under the Securities Act and state securities laws and any such transaction must be approved by the Manager. In determining whether to grant approval, the Manager will specifically look at whether the conditions of Rule 144 under the Securities Act and any other applicable laws have been met. Any attempt to sell Shares without the approval of the Manager in its sole discretion will be void ab initio.

Pursuant to Rule 144, a minimum six-month holding period applies to all Shares purchased from the Fund. Any increase in the number of Shares trading on OTCQX may cause the price of the Shares on OTCQX to decline.

On a bi-weekly basis, the Fund aggregates the Shares that have been held for the requisite holding period under Rule 144 by non-affiliates of the Fund to assess whether the Rule 144 transfer restriction legends may be removed. Any Shares that qualify for the removal of the Rule 144 transfer restriction legends are presented to outside counsel, who may instruct the Transfer Agent to remove the transfer restriction legends from the Shares, allowing the Shares to then be resold without restriction, including on OTCQX U.S. Premier marketplace. The outside counsel requires that certain representations be made, providing that:

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In addition, because the LLC Agreement prohibits the transfer or sale of Shares without the prior written consent of the Manager, the Manager must provide a written consent that explicitly states that it irrevocably consents to the transfer and resale of the Shares. Once the transfer restriction legends have been removed from a Share and the Manager has provided its written consent to the transfer of that Share, no consent of the Manager is required for future transfers of that particular Share.

Book-Entry Form

Shares are held primarily in book-entry form by the Transfer Agent. The Manager or its delegate will direct the Transfer Agent to credit the number of Creation Baskets to the applicable Authorized Participant. The Transfer Agent will issue Creation Baskets. Transfers will be made in accordance with standard securities industry practice. The Manager may cause the Fund to issue Shares in certificated form in limited circumstances in its sole discretion.

Share Splits

In its discretion, the Manager may direct the Transfer Agent to declare a split or reverse split in the number of Shares outstanding and to make a corresponding change in the number of Shares constituting a Basket. For example, if the Manager believes that the per Share price in the secondary market for Shares has risen or fallen outside a desirable trading price range, it may declare such a split or reverse split.

Description of Creation of Shares

The following is a description of the material terms of the Fund Documents as they relate to the creation of the Fund’s Shares on a periodic basis from time to time through sales in private placement transactions exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.

The Fund Documents also provide procedures for the redemption of Shares. However, the Fund does not currently operate a redemption program and the Shares are not currently redeemable. Subject to receipt of regulatory approval from the SEC and approval by the Manager in its sole discretion, the Fund may in the future operate a redemption program. Because the Fund does not believe that the SEC would, at this time, entertain an application for the waiver of rules needed in order to operate an ongoing redemption program, the Fund currently has no intention of seeking regulatory approval from the SEC to operate an ongoing redemption program. Further, the Fund is registered and regulated as a private fund under the Private Funds Act. The Cayman Islands Monetary Authority has supervisory and enforcement powers to ensure the Fund’s compliance with the Private Funds Act. Before the Fund is able to effect open redemptions as an open-ended Fund, it will be required to meet the requirements of, and register with, the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority and be regulated as a mutual fund under the Mutual Funds Law (As Revised) of the Cayman Islands.

The Fund will issue Shares from time to time, but only in one or more Baskets (with a Basket being a block of 100 Shares). The Fund will not issue fractions of a Basket. The creation of Baskets will be made only in exchange for the delivery to the Fund, or the distribution by the Fund, of the number of whole and fractional tokens of each Fund Component represented by each Basket being created plus cash representing the Forked Asset Portion, if any, and the Cash Portion, if any. The number of tokens of each Fund Component required to be delivered in connection with a Basket is calculated by dividing the total number of tokens of such Fund Component held by the Fund at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on the trade date of a creation or redemption order, after deducting all accrued but unpaid Fund Component Fee Amounts for such Fund Component and the number of tokens of such Fund Component payable as a portion of Additional Fund Expenses (in each case, determined using the applicable Digital Asset Reference Rate), by the number of Shares outstanding at such time (the quotient so obtained calculated to one one-hundred-millionth (i.e., carried to the eighth decimal place)), and multiplying such quotient by 100. We refer to the number of tokens of each Fund Component so obtained as the “Fund Component Basket Amount.” If the Fund holds any Forked Assets that can be reasonably valued in the sole discretion of the Manager, each Basket created will also require the delivery of an amount of cash determined by dividing the aggregate U.S. dollar value of all of such Forked Assets by the total number of Shares outstanding at such time (the quotient so obtained calculated to one one-hundred-millionth (i.e., carried to the eighth decimal place)) and multiplying the quotient so obtained by 100 (such product, the “Forked

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Asset Portion”). If the Fund holds any cash in U.S. dollars or other fiat currency, each Basket created will also require the delivery of an amount of U.S. dollars or other fiat currency (as converted into U.S. dollars at the applicable exchange rate as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each business day) determined by dividing the amount of cash held by the Fund by the total number of Shares outstanding at such time (the quotient so obtained calculated to one one-hundred-millionth (i.e., carried to the eighth decimal place)), and multiplying such quotient by 100 (the “Cash Portion”). The Manager will generally consider it possible to assign a reasonable value to a Forked Asset if such Forked Asset is traded on at least one exchange meeting the guidelines of the Reference Rate Provider. We refer to the sum of the Fund Component Basket Amounts for all Fund Components then held by the Fund, the Forked Asset Portion, if any, and the Cash Portion, if any, as the “Basket Amount.”

All questions as to the calculation of the Basket Amount will be conclusively determined by the Manager and will be final and binding on all persons interested in the Fund. The Basket Amount multiplied by the number of Baskets being created or redeemed is the “Total Basket Amount.” Except as otherwise affected by a rebalancing of the Fund’s portfolio, the number of Fund Components represented by a Share is generally expected to gradually decrease over time as the Fund Components are used to pay the Fund’s expenses. Information regarding the Fund’s Fund Components per Share is posted to the Fund’s website daily at https://grayscale.com/products/grayscale-digital-large-cap-fund/.

Authorized Participants are the only persons that may place orders to create Baskets. Each Authorized Participant must (i) enter into a Participant Agreement with the Manager and (ii) own digital asset wallet addresses and bank accounts that are recognized by the Manager and the Custodian as belonging to the Authorized Participant.

An Authorized Participant may act for its own account or as agent for investors who have entered into a subscription agreement with the Authorized Participant (each such investor, an “Investor”). An investor that enters into a subscription agreement with an Authorized Participant subscribes for Shares by submitting a purchase order and paying a subscription amount to the Authorized Participant. At this time, subscription amounts may be paid only in cash. After an Investor wires its cash, the Authorized Participant purchases digital assets in the Digital Asset Markets or, to the extent the Authorized Participant already holds the applicable digital assets, the Authorized Participant may contribute such digital assets to the Fund. Depending on whether the Investor wires cash to the Authorized Participant before or after 4:00 p.m. New York time, the Investor’s Shares will be created based on the same or next Business Day’s Digital Asset Holdings and the risk of any price volatility in the digital assets during this time will be borne by the Authorized Participant.

The creation of Baskets requires the delivery to the Fund of the Total Basket Amount.

The Participant Agreement provides the procedures for the creation of Baskets and for the delivery of Fund Components and cash required for such creations. The Participant Agreement and the related procedures attached thereto may be amended by the Manager and the relevant Authorized Participant. Under the Participant Agreement, the Manager has agreed to indemnify each Authorized Participant against certain liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act.

Authorized Participants do not pay a transaction fee to the Fund in connection with the creation of Baskets, but there may be transaction fees associated with the validation of the transfer of digital assets on the relevant Digital Asset Networks.

The following description of the procedures for the creation of Baskets is only a summary and investors should refer to the relevant provisions of the LLC Agreement and the form of Participant Agreement for more detail.

Creation Procedures

On any business day, an Authorized Participant may order one or more Creation Baskets from the Fund by placing a creation order with the Manager no later than 4:00 p.m., New York time, which the Manager will accept or reject. By placing a creation order, an Authorized Participant agrees to transfer the Total Basket Amount from a digital wallet address that is known to the Custodian as belonging to the Authorized Participant to the Fund Accounts.

All creation orders are accepted (or rejected) by the Manager on the business day on which the relevant creation order is placed. If a creation order is accepted, the Manager will calculate the Total Basket Amount on the same business day, which will be the trade date, and will communicate the Total Basket Amount to the Authorized Participant. The Authorized Participant must transfer the Total Basket Amount to the Fund no later than 6:00 p.m., New York time, on the trade date. The expense and risk of delivery, ownership and safekeeping of the Fund Components and U.S. dollars transferred by the Authorized Participant will be borne solely by the Authorized Participant until such Fund Components and U.S. dollars have been received by the Fund.

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Following receipt of the Total Basket Amount, the Transfer Agent will credit the number of Shares to the account of the Investor on behalf of which the Authorized Participant placed the creation order by no later than 6:00 p.m., New York time, on the trade date. The Authorized Participant may then transfer such Shares directly to the relevant Investor.

Suspension or Rejection of Orders and Total Basket Amount

The creation of Shares may be suspended generally, or refused with respect to particular requested creations during any period when the transfer books of the Transfer Agent are closed or if circumstances outside the control of the Manager or its delegates make it for all practical purposes not feasible to process such creation orders. The Manager may reject an order or, after accepting an order, may cancel such order by rejecting the Total Basket Amount, in the case of creations, or the Baskets to be redeemed, if (i) such order is not presented in proper form as described in the Participant Agreement, (ii) the deposit of the Total Basket Amount, comes from accounts other than a digital wallet address that is known to the Custodian as belonging to the Authorized Participant or (iii) the fulfillment of the order, in the opinion of counsel, might be unlawful, among other reasons. None of the Manager or its delegates will be liable for the suspension, rejection or acceptance of any creation order or Total Basket Amount.

Tax Responsibility

Authorized Participants are responsible for any transfer tax, sales or use tax, stamp tax, recording tax, value added tax or similar tax or governmental charge applicable to the creation of Baskets, regardless of whether such tax or charge is imposed directly on the Authorized Participant, and agree to indemnify the Manager and the Fund if the Manager or the Fund is required by law to pay any such tax, together with any applicable penalties, additions to tax or interest thereon.

Valuation of Digital Assets and Determination of Digital Asset Holdings

The Manager will evaluate the digital assets held by the Fund and determine the Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Fund Documents. The following is a description of the material terms of the Fund Documents as they relate to valuation of the Fund’s digital assets and the Digital Asset Holdings calculations.

At 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each business day (other than during a Fund Rebalancing Period) or as soon thereafter as practicable, the Manager will evaluate the digital assets held by the Fund and calculate and publish the Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund. The Digital Asset Holdings of the Fund will not be calculated during any Fund Rebalancing Period. To calculate the Digital Asset Holdings, the Manager will:

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event that the Manager determines that the primary methodology used to determine any of the Digital Asset Reference Rates is not an appropriate basis for valuation of the Fund’s digital assets, the Manager will utilize the cascading set of rules as described in “Overview of the Digital Asset Industry and Market—Fund Component Value—Digital Asset Reference Rates.”

The Manager will publish the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings and the Digital Asset Holdings per Share on the Fund’s website as soon as practicable after its determination by the Manager. If the Digital Asset Holdings and Digital Asset Holdings per Share have been calculated using a price for a Fund Component or Forked Asset other than a Digital Asset Reference Rate, the publication on the Fund’s website will note the valuation methodology used and the price per digital asset held by the Fund resulting from such calculation.

In the event of a hard fork of the network for any Fund Component, the Manager will use its discretion to determine, in good faith, which peer-to-peer network, among a group of incompatible forks of such network, is generally accepted as such network for such Fund Component and should therefore be considered the appropriate network for such Fund Component for the Fund’s purposes. The Manager will base its determination on a variety of then relevant factors, including (but not limited to) the following: (i) the Manager’s beliefs regarding expectations of the core developers, users, services, businesses, miners and other constituencies and (ii) the actual continued acceptance of, mining power on, and community engagement with the relevant network.

The shareholders may rely on any evaluation furnished by the Manager. The determinations that the Manager makes will be made in good faith upon the basis of, and the Manager will not be liable for any errors contained in, information reasonably available to it. The Manager will not be liable to the Authorized Participants, the shareholders or any other person for errors in judgment. However, the preceding liability exclusion will not protect the Manager against any liability resulting from gross negligence, willful misconduct or bad faith in the performance of its duties.

Expenses; Sales of Digital Assets

The Fund’s only ordinary recurring expense is expected to be the Manager’s Fee. From inception to January 1, 2021, the Manager’s Fee was 3.0%. Effective January 1, 2021, the Manager’s Fee was lowered to 2.5%. The Manager’s Fee will accrue daily in U.S. dollars at an annual rate of 2.5% of the Fund’s Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, and will generally be paid in the tokens of the Fund Components then held by the Fund in proportion to their respective Weightings. For any day that is not a business day or in a Fund Rebalancing Period, the Manager’s Fee will accrue in U.S. dollars at a rate of 2.5% of the Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount of the Fund from the most recent business day, reduced by the accrued and unpaid Manager’s Fee for such most recent business day and for each day after such most recent business day and prior to the relevant calculation date. The U.S. dollar amount of the Manager’s Fee will be converted into Fund Components on a daily basis by multiplying such U.S. dollar amount by the Weighting for each Fund Component and dividing the resulting product for each Fund Component by the Digital Asset Reference Rate for such Fund Component on such day. We refer to the number of tokens of each Fund Component payable as the Manager’s Fee for any day as a “Fund Component Fee Amount.” For any day that is not a business day or during a Fund Rebalancing Period for which the Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount is not calculated, the amount of each Fund Component payable in respect of such day’s U.S. dollar accrual of the Manager’s Fee will be determined by reference to the Fund Component Fee Amount from the most recent business day. Payments of the Manager’s Fee will be made monthly in arrears.

Expenses to Be Paid by the Manager

The Fund pays the Manager’s Fee to the Manager. As consideration for its receipt of the Manager’s Fee, the Manager shall assume and pay the following fees and other expenses incurred by the Fund in the ordinary course of its affairs, excluding taxes but including: (i) the Marketing Fee, (ii) the Administrator Fee, (iii) the Custodian Fee and fees for any other security vendor engaged by the Fund, (iv) the Transfer Agent fee, (v) the fees and expenses related to the listing, quotation or trading of the Shares on any secondary market (including customary legal, marketing and audit fees and expenses) in an amount up to $600,000 in any given fiscal year, (vi) ordinary course legal fees and expenses, (vii) audit fees, (viii) regulatory fees, including, if applicable, any fees relating to the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act and fees relating to registration and any other regulatory requirements in the Cayman Islands, (ix) printing and mailing costs, (x) costs of maintaining the Fund’s website and (xi) applicable license fees (the “Manager-paid Expenses”).

The Manager’s Fee will generally be paid in Fund Components. If the Fund holds any Forked Assets or cash, the Fund may also pay all or a portion of the Manager’s Fee in Forked Assets and/or cash in lieu of paying the Manager’s Fee in Fund Components, in which case, the Fund Component Fee Amounts in respect of such payment will be correspondingly and proportionally reduced.

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After the payment of the Manager’s Fee to the Manager, the Manager may elect to convert any digital assets it receives into U.S. dollars. The rate at which the Manager converts such digital assets into U.S. dollars may differ from the rate at which the Manager’s Fee was initially determined. The Fund will not be responsible for any fees and expenses incurred by the Manager to convert digital assets received in payment of the Manager’s Fee into U.S. dollars. The Manager, from time to time, may temporarily waive all or a portion of the Manager’s Fee at its sole discretion. Presently, the Manager does not intend to waive any of the Manager’s Fee and there are no circumstances under which the Manager has determined it will definitely waive the fee.

The Manager has not assumed the obligation to pay Additional Fund Expenses.

Extraordinary and Other Expenses

The Fund may incur certain extraordinary, non-recurring expenses that are not Manager-paid Expenses, including, but not limited to, taxes and governmental charges, expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Manager (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Fund to protect the Fund or the interests of shareholders (including in connection with any Forked Assets), any indemnification of the Custodian or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Fund, the fees and expenses related to the listing, quotation or trading of the Shares on any secondary market (including legal, marketing and audit fees and expenses) to the extent exceeding $600,000 in any given fiscal year and extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters (collectively, “Additional Fund Expenses”).

If Additional Fund Expenses are incurred, the Manager will (i) withdraw Fund Components from the Digital Asset Accounts in proportion to their respective Weightings at such time and in such quantity as may be necessary to permit payment of such Additional Fund Expenses and (ii) may either (x) cause the Fund to convert such Fund Components into U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies at the Actual Exchange Rate or (y) cause the Fund (or its delegate) to deliver such Fund Components in kind in satisfaction of such Additional Fund Expenses. If the Fund holds cash and/or Forked Assets, the Fund may also pay all or a portion of the Additional Fund Expenses in cash or Forked Assets instead of Fund Components, in which case, the amount of Fund Components that would otherwise have been used to satisfy such Additional Fund Expenses will be correspondingly and proportionally reduced.

The fractional number of Fund Components, or the amount of Forked Assets and/or cash, represented by each Share will decline each time the Fund pays the Manager’s Fee or any Additional Fund Expenses by transferring or selling Fund Components, Forked Assets and/or cash.

Dispositions of Fund Components and Forked Assets

The Fund will pay the Manager’s Fee to the Manager in Fund Components held by the Fund, in cash or in Forked Assets. In addition, the Fund will sell Fund Components to raise the funds needed for the payment of any Additional Fund Expenses or will pay Additional Fund Expenses in Fund Components held by the Fund, cash or Forked Assets. Fund Components, as well as the value of any cash or Forked Assets held by the Fund, will be the Fund’s sole source of funds to cover the Manager’s Fee and any Additional Fund Expenses. To cause the Fund to pay the Manager’s Fee, the Manager shall, instructing the Custodian as necessary, withdraw from the relevant Digital Asset Account the number of tokens of each Fund Component equal to the Fund Component Fee Amount for such Fund Component and transfer such tokens of all Fund Components to the Manager’s account at such times as the Manager determines in its absolute discretion. To cause the Fund to pay the Additional Fund Expenses, if any, the Manager or its delegates shall, instructing the Custodian as necessary, (i) withdraw from the Digital Asset Accounts Fund Components in proportion to their respective Weightings at such time and in such quantity as may be necessary to permit payment of such Additional Fund Expenses and (ii) may either (x) cause the Fund (or its delegate) to convert such Fund Components into U.S. Dollars or other fiat currencies at the Actual Exchange Rate or (y) cause the Fund (or its delegate) to deliver such Fund Components in kind in satisfaction of such Additional Fund Expenses.

Because the number of Fund Components, or the amount of Forked Assets and/or cash, held by the Fund will decrease when Fund Components are used to pay the Manager’s Fee or any Additional Fund Expenses, it is expected that the fractional number of Fund Components, or the amount of Forked Assets and/or cash, represented by each Share will gradually decrease over the life of the Fund. Accordingly, the shareholders will bear the cost of the Manager’s Fee and Additional Fund Expenses. New digital assets that are transferred into the Digital Asset Accounts in exchange for new Baskets issued by the Fund will not reverse this trend.

Hypothetical Expense Example

The following tables illustrate the anticipated impact of the payment of the Fund’s expenses on the number of Fund Components represented by each outstanding Share for three years, on a per Fund Component and aggregate basis, assuming that the Fund does not make any payments using any cash or Forked Assets. Each table assumes that the only transfers of Fund Components will be those needed to pay the Manager’s Fee and that the price of each Fund Component and the number of Shares remain constant during the three-year period covered. The tables do not show the impact of any Additional Fund Expenses. Any Additional Fund Expenses, if and when

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incurred, will accelerate the decrease in the fractional number of Fund Components represented by each Share. In addition, the tables do not show the effect of any waivers of the Manager’s Fee that may be in effect from time to time.

Discretion of the Manager, Index Provider and Reference Rate Provider

The Manager has sole discretion to replace the DLCS with a different Large Cap index and sole discretion to replace the Index Provider with a different Large Cap index provider, and may replace either the DLCS or the Index Provider from time to time. The Index Provider has sole discretion over the DLCS Methodology and may change it from time to time. The current DLCS Methodology and current Index Components are available at the Index Provider’s public website, at https://www.coindesk.com/indices/dlcs/. The Reference Rate Provider has sole discretion over the determination of Digital Asset Reference Rates and may change the methodologies for determining the Digital Asset Reference Rates from time to time.

Description of the LLC Agreement

The following is a description of the material terms of the LLC Agreement. The LLC Agreement establishes the roles, rights and duties of the Manager and the Fund.

The Manager

Under the LLC Agreement, the management of the Fund is vested exclusively in the Manager. The Manager may appoint such officers of the Fund on such terms as may be determined by the Manager and with such powers and authorities as may be delegated to such officers. The Manager may appoint any person, firm or corporation to act as an authorized person or service provider to the Fund

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and may entrust to and confer upon any such authorized persons or service providers any of the functions, duties, powers and discretions exercisable by the Manager, upon such terms and conditions (including as to remuneration payable by the Fund) and with such powers of delegation, but subject to such restrictions, as the Manager thinks fit.

Liability of the Manager and Indemnification

Neither the Manager nor the Fund insures the Fund’s digital assets. The Manager and its affiliates (each a “Covered Person”) will not be liable to the Fund or any shareholder for any loss suffered by the Fund which arises out of any action taken, or for refraining or inaction of such Covered Person if such Covered Person determined in good faith that such course of conduct was in the best interests of the Fund. However, the preceding liability exclusion will not protect any Covered Person against any liability resulting from its own actual fraud, willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence in the performance of its duties.

Each Covered Person will be indemnified by the Fund against any loss, judgment, liability, expense incurred or amount paid in settlement of any claim sustained by it in connection with the Covered Person’s activities for the Fund, provided that (i) such Covered Person was acting on behalf of, or performing services for, the Fund and had determined, in good faith, that such course of conduct was in the best interests of the Fund and such liability or loss was not the result of actual fraud, gross negligence, bad faith, willful misconduct or a material breach of the LLC Agreement on the part of such Covered Person and (ii) any such indemnification will be recoverable only from the property of the Fund. Any amounts payable to an indemnified party will be payable in advance under certain circumstances.

Fiduciary and Regulatory Duties of the Manager

The Manager has duties (including fiduciary duties) and liabilities relating thereto to the Fund. In fulfilling their duties, the Manager may take into account such factors as the Manager deems appropriate or necessary. The general fiduciary duties that apply to the Manager are defined and limited in scope by the LLC Agreement.

The LLC Agreement provides that in addition to any other requirements of applicable law, no shareholder will have the right, power or authority to bring or maintain a derivative action, suit or other proceeding on behalf of the Fund unless two or more shareholders who (i) are not affiliates of one another and (ii) collectively hold at least 10% of the outstanding Shares join in the bringing or maintaining of such action, suit or other proceeding. The Fund selected the 10.0% ownership threshold because the Fund believed that this was a threshold that investors would be comfortable with based on market precedent.

This provision applies to any derivative action brought in the name of the Fund other than claims brought under the federal securities laws or the rules and regulations thereunder, to which Section 7.4 does not apply. Due to this additional requirement, a shareholder attempting to bring a derivative action in the name of the Fund will be required to locate other shareholders with which it is not affiliated and that have sufficient Shares to meet the 10.0% threshold based on the number of Shares outstanding on the date the claim is brought and thereafter throughout the duration of the action, suit or proceeding.

“Affiliate” is defined in the LLC Agreement to mean any natural person, partnership, limited liability company, statutory trust, corporation, association or other legal entity (each, a “Person”) directly or indirectly owning, controlling or holding with power to vote 10% or more of the outstanding voting securities of such Person, (ii) any Person 10% or more of whose outstanding voting securities are directly or indirectly owned, controlled or held with power to vote by such Person, (iii) any Person, directly or indirectly, controlling, controlled by or under common control of such Person, (iv) any employee, officer, director, member, manager or partner of such Person, or (v) if such Person is an employee, officer, director, member, manager or partner, any Person for which such Person acts in any such capacity.

Any shareholders seeking to bring a derivative action may determine whether the 10.0% ownership threshold required to bring a derivative action has been met by dividing the number Shares owned by such shareholders by the total number of Shares outstanding. shareholders may determine the total number of Shares outstanding by reviewing the Fund’s annual filings on Form 10-K, quarterly filings on Form 10-Q and periodic reports on Form 8-K reporting sales of unregistered securities pursuant to Item 3.02 thereof, or by requesting the number of Shares outstanding at any time from the Manager pursuant to Sections 7.2 and 8.1 of the LLC Agreement.

The Fund offers Shares on a periodic basis at such times and for such periods as the Manager determines in its sole discretion. As a result, in order to maintain the 10.0% ownership threshold required to maintain a derivative action, shareholders may need to increase their holdings or locate additional shareholders during the pendency of a claim. The Fund posts the number of Shares outstanding as of the end of each month on its website and as of the end of each quarter in its annual and quarterly filings with the SEC. The Fund additionally reports sales of unregistered securities on Form 8-K pursuant to Item 3.02 thereof. Shareholders may monitor the number of Shares outstanding at any time for purposes of calculating their ownership threshold by reviewing the Fund’s website and SEC filings and by requesting the number of Shares outstanding on any date from the Manager at any time pursuant to Sections 7.2 and 8.1 of the LLC Agreement. Shareholders have the opportunity at any time to increase their holdings or locate other shareholders to maintain the 10.0% threshold throughout the duration of a derivative claim. Shareholders may do so by contacting shareholders that are required to file Schedule 13Ds or Schedule 13Gs with the SEC or by requesting from the Manager the list of the names and last known address of all shareholders pursuant to Sections 7.2 and 8.1 of the LLC Agreement. The Manager is not aware of any reason to believe that Section 7.4 of the LLC Agreement is not enforceable under state or federal law.

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Beneficial owners may have the right, subject to certain legal requirements, to bring class actions in federal court to enforce their rights under the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder by the SEC. Beneficial owners who have suffered losses in connection with the purchase or sale of their beneficial interests may be able to recover such losses from the Manager where the losses result from a violation by the Manager of the anti-fraud provisions of the federal securities laws.

Actions Taken to Protect the Fund

The Manager may prosecute, defend, settle or compromise actions or claims at law or in equity that it considers necessary or proper to protect the Fund or the interests of the shareholders. The expenses incurred by the Manager in connection therewith (including the fees and disbursements of legal counsel) will be expenses of the Fund and are deemed to be Additional Fund Expenses. The Manager will be entitled to be reimbursed for the Additional Fund Expenses it pays on behalf of the Fund.

Successor Managers

In the event that the filing of a certificate of dissolution or revocation of the Manager’s charter (and the expiration of 90 days after the date of notice to the Manager of revocation without a reinstatement of its charter) or the withdrawal, removal, adjudication or admission of bankruptcy or insolvency of the Manager has occurred, shareholders holding Shares representing at least a majority (over 50%) of the Shares may vote to appoint one or more successor Managers. If the Manager withdraws and a successor Manager is named, the withdrawing Manager shall pay all expenses as a result of its withdrawal and make such filings with the Registrar as are necessary to appoint the successor Manager.

Possible Repayment of Distributions Received by Shareholders; Indemnification by Shareholders

The Shares are limited liability investments. Investors may not lose more than the amount that they invest plus any profits recognized on their investment. Although it is unlikely, the Manager may, from time to time, make distributions to the shareholders. However, shareholders could be required, as a matter of bankruptcy law, to return to the estate of the Fund any distribution they received at a time when the Fund was in fact insolvent or in violation of its LLC Agreement. In addition, the LLC Agreement provides that shareholders will indemnify the Fund for any harm suffered by it as a result of shareholders’ actions unrelated to the activities of the Fund.

Holding of Fund Property

The Fund will hold and record the ownership of the Fund’s assets in a manner such that it will be owned for the benefit of the shareholders for the purposes of, and subject to and limited by the terms and conditions set forth in, the LLC Agreement. The Fund will not create, incur or assume any indebtedness or borrow money from or loan money to any person. The Manager may not commingle its assets with those of any other person, provided that any delay between the sale of assets to a third party and transfer of such assets from the Fund Accounts to such third party in settlement of such sale will not be deemed to be a contravention of this prohibition.

The Manager may appoint any person, firm or corporation to act as an authorized person or service provider, including investment managers, investment advisers, administrators, registrars, transfer agents, custodians and prime brokers, to the Fund and will not be answerable for the conduct or misconduct of any delegatee if such delegatees have been selected with reasonable care.

Amendments to the LLC Agreement

In general, the Manager may amend the LLC Agreement without the consent of any shareholder. However, no amendments to the LLC Agreement that materially adversely affect the interests of shareholders may be made without the vote of at least a majority (over 50%) of the Shares (not including any Shares held by the Manager or its affiliates). A shareholder will be deemed to have consented to a modification or amendment of the LLC Agreement if the Manager has notified the shareholders in writing of the proposed modification or amendment and the shareholder has not, within 20 calendar days of such notice, notified the Manager in writing the shareholder objects to such modification or amendment.

Termination of the Fund

The Fund will dissolve if any of the following events occur:

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The Manager may, in its sole discretion, wind up, liquidate and dissolve the Fund if any of the following events occur:

The Manager may determine that it is desirable or advisable to discontinue the affairs of the Fund for a variety of reasons. For example, the Manager may terminate the Fund if some or all of the digital assets held by such Fund were asserted, or ultimately determined, to be securities under the federal securities laws by the SEC or a federal court.

No shareholder may present a winding up petition in respect of the Fund. Additionally, the death, legal disability, bankruptcy, insolvency, dissolution, or withdrawal of any shareholder (as long as such shareholder is not the sole shareholder of the Fund) will not result in the termination of the Fund, and such shareholder, his or her estate, custodian or personal representative will have no right to a redemption of such shareholder’s Shares. Each shareholder (and any assignee thereof) expressly agrees that in the event of his or her death, he or she waives on behalf of himself or herself and his or her estate, and he or she directs the legal representative of his or her estate and any person interested therein to waive the furnishing of any inventory, accounting or appraisal of the assets of the Fund and any right to an audit or examination of the books of account for the Fund, except for such rights as are set forth in Article VII of the LLC Agreement relating to the books of account and reports of the Fund.

Upon dissolution of the Fund and surrender of Shares by the shareholders, shareholders will receive a distribution in U.S. dollars or digital assets, at the sole discretion of the Manager, after the Manager has sold the Fund’s Digital Assets, if applicable, and has paid or made provision for the Fund’s claims and obligations.

Governing Law

The LLC Agreement and the rights of the Manager and shareholders under the LLC Agreement are governed by the laws of the Cayman Islands.

Description of the Custodian Agreement

The Custodian Agreement establishes the rights and responsibilities of the Custodian, Manager, the Fund and Authorized Participants with respect to the Fund’s digital assets in the Digital Asset Accounts, which is maintained and operated by the Custodian on behalf of the Fund. For a general description of the Custodian’s obligations, see “The Custodian.”

Account; Location of Digital Assets

The Fund’s Digital Asset Accounts are segregated custody accounts controlled and secured by the Custodian to store private keys, which allow for the transfer of ownership or control of the Fund Components, on the Fund’s behalf. Private key shards associated with the Fund Components are distributed geographically by the Custodian in secure vaults around the world, including in the United States. The locations of the secure vaults may change regularly and are kept confidential by the Custodian for security purposes. The Custodian

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requires written approval of the Fund prior to changing the location of the private key shards, and therefore the Fund Components, to a location outside of the United States. The Digital Asset Accounts use offline storage, or cold storage, mechanisms to secure the Fund’s private keys. The term cold storage refers to a safeguarding method by which the private keys corresponding to digital assets are disconnected and/or deleted entirely from the internet.

Fund Components in the Digital Asset Accounts are not treated as general assets of the Custodian. Rather, the Custodian serves as a fiduciary and custodian on the Fund’s behalf, and the Fund Components in the Digital Asset Accounts are considered fiduciary assets that remain the Fund’s property at all times.

Safekeeping of Digital Assets

The Custodian will use best efforts to keep in safe custody on behalf of the Fund all digital assets received by the Custodian. All digital assets credited to the Fund’s Digital Asset Accounts will (i) be held in the Digital Asset Accounts at all times, and the Digital Asset Accounts will be controlled by the Custodian; (ii) be labeled or otherwise appropriately identified as being held for the Fund; (iii) be held in the Digital Asset Accounts on a non-fungible basis; (iv) not be commingled with other digital assets held by the Custodian, whether held for the Custodian’s own account or the account of other clients other than the Fund; (v) not without the prior written consent of the Fund be deposited or held with any third-party depositary, custodian, clearance system or wallet; and (vi) for any Digital Asset Accounts maintained by the Custodian on behalf of the Fund, the Custodian will use best efforts to keep the private key or keys secure, and will not disclose such keys to the Fund, the Manager or to any other individual or entity except to the extent that any keys are disclosed consistent with a standard of best efforts and as part of a multiple signature solution that would not result in the Fund or the Manager “storing, holding, or maintaining custody or control of” the digital assets “on behalf of others” within the meaning of the New York BitLicense Rule (23 NYCRR Part 200) as in effect as of June 24, 2015 such that it would require the Fund or the Manager to become licensed under such law.

Insurance

Pursuant to the terms of the Custodian Agreement, the Custodian is required to maintain insurance in such types and amounts as are commercially reasonable for the custodial services provided by the Custodian. The Custodian has advised the Manager that it has insurance coverage pursuant to policies held by Coinbase Global, Inc. (“Coinbase”), which procures fidelity (or crime) insurance coverage of up to $320 million. This insurance coverage is limited to losses of the digital assets the Custodian custodies on behalf of its clients, including the Fund Components, resulting from theft, including theft by employees of Coinbase or its subsidiaries and theft or fraud by a director of Coinbase if the director is acting in the capacity of an employee of Coinbase or its subsidiaries.

Deposits, Withdrawals and Storage; Access to the Digital Asset Accounts

The Custodial Services (i) allow digital assets to be deposited from a public blockchain address to the Digital Asset Accounts and (ii) allow the Fund or Manager to withdraw digital assets from the Digital Asset Accounts to a public blockchain address the Fund or the Manager controls (each such transaction is a “Custody Transaction”).

The Custodian reserves the right to refuse to process or to cancel any pending Custody Transaction as required by law or in response to a subpoena, court order, or other binding government order or to enforce transaction, threshold, and condition limits, in each case as communicated to the Fund and the Manager as soon as reasonably practicable where the Custodian is permitted to do so, or if the Custodian reasonably believes that the Custody Transaction may violate or facilitate the violation of an applicable law, regulation or applicable rule of a governmental authority or self-regulatory organization. The Custodian may suspend or restrict the Fund’s and Manager’s access to the Custodial Services, and/or deactivate, terminate or cancel the Digital Asset Accounts if the Fund or Manager taken certain actions, including any Prohibited Use or Prohibited Business as set forth in the Custodian Agreement.

From the time the Custodian has verified the authorization of a complete set of instructions to withdraw digital assets from the Digital Asset Accounts, the Custodian will have up to forty-eight (48) hours to process and complete such withdrawal. The Custodian will ensure that initiated deposits are processed in a timely manner but the Custodian makes no representations or warranties regarding the amount of time needed to complete processing which is dependent upon many factors outside of the Custodian’s control.

Subject to certain exceptions in the Custodian Agreement, the Fund, the Manager and their authorized representatives will be able to access the Digital Asset Accounts via the Custodian’s website in order to check information about the Digital Asset Accounts, deposit digital assets to the Digital Asset Accounts or initiate a Custody Transaction (subject to the timing described above).

The Custodian makes no other representations or warranties with respect to the availability and/or accessibility of digital assets or the availability and/or accessibility of the Digital Asset Accounts or Custodial Services.

Subject to any legal and regulatory requirements, in order to support the Fund’s ordinary course of deposits and withdrawals, which involves, or will in the future involve, deposits from and withdrawals to digital assets accounts owned by any Authorized

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Participant, the Custodian will use commercially reasonable efforts to cooperate with the Fund and Manager to design and put in place via the Custodial Services a secure procedure to allow Authorized Participants to receive a digital asset address for deposits by Authorized Participants, and to initiate withdrawals to digital asset addresses controlled by Authorized Participants.

The Custodian Agreement further provides that the Fund’s and the Manager’s auditors or third-party accountants upon 30 days’ advance written notice, have inspection rights to inspect, take extracts from and audit the records maintained with respect to the Digital Asset Accounts. Such auditors or third-party accountants are not obligated under the Custodian Agreement to exercise their inspection rights.

Security of the Account

The Custodian securely stores all digital assets private keys held by the Custodian in offline storage. Under the Custodian Agreement, the Custodian must use best efforts to keep private and public keys secure, and may not disclose private keys to the Manager, Fund or any other individual or entity.

The Custodian has implemented and will maintain a reasonable information security program that includes policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to safeguard the Custodian’s electronic systems and the Fund’s and the Manager’s confidential information from, among other things, unauthorized access or misuse. In the event of a Data Security Event (as defined below), the Custodian will promptly (subject to any legal or regulatory requirements) notify the Fund and the Manager. “Data Security Event” is defined as any event whereby (a) an unauthorized person (whether within the Custodian or a third party) acquired or accessed the Fund’s or Manager’s information, (b) the Fund’s or Manager’s information is otherwise lost, stolen or compromised or (c) the Custodian’s Chief Information Security Officer, or other senior security officer of a similar title, is no longer employed by the Custodian.

Record Keeping; Inspection and Auditing

The Custodian will keep timely and accurate records of its services pursuant to the Custodian Agreement, and such records must be retained by the Custodian for no less than seven years. The Custodian Agreement also provides that the Custodian will permit, to the extent it may legally do so, the Fund’s or the Manager’s auditors or third-party accountants, upon reasonable notice, to inspect, take extracts from and audit the records that it maintains, take such steps as necessary to verify that satisfactory internal control system and procedures are in place as the Fund or the Manager may reasonably request. The Custodian is obligated to notify the Fund and the Manager of any audit report prepared by its internal or independent auditors if such report reveals any material deficiencies or makes any material objections.

The Fund and the Manager obtain and perform a comprehensive review of the Services Organization Controls (“SOC”) 1 report and SOC 2 each year. For additional information, see "—Annual Certificate and Report.” In addition to the review of SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports, the Fund, the Manager and/or their respective auditors may inspect or audit the Custodian’s records in a variety of manners if considered necessary. Such processes, may include validating the existence balances as reflected on the Custodian’s user interface to nodes of the underlying blockchain and confirming that such digital assets are associated with its public keys to validate the existence and exclusive ownership of the digital assets. To validate software functionality of the private keys, the Fund may transfer a portion of its digital assets from one public key to another public key of the Fund.

The Fund, the Manager and their independent auditors may evaluate the Custodian’s protection of private keys and other customer information, including review of supporting documentation related to the processes surrounding key lifecycle management, the key generation process (hardware, software, and algorithms associated with generation) the infrastructure used to generate and store private keys, how private keys are stored (for example, cold wallets), the segregation of duties in the authorization of digital asset transactions, and the number of users required to process a transaction and the monitoring of addresses for any unauthorized activity. For additional information, see “Custody of the Fund’s Digital Assets.”

Annual Certificate and Report

Once each calendar year, the Manager or Fund may request that the Custodian deliver a certificate signed by a duly authorized officer to certify that all representations and warranties made by the Custodian in the Custodian Agreement are true and correct on and as of the date of such certificate, and have been true and correct throughout the preceding year.

Once each calendar year, the Fund and the Manager will be entitled to request that the Custodian provide a copy of its most recent SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports, which are required to be dated within one year prior to such request. The Custodian reserves the right to combine the SOC 1 and SOC 2 reports into a comprehensive report. In the event that the Custodian does not deliver a SOC 1 Report or SOC 2 Report, as applicable, the Manager and the Fund will be entitled to terminate the Agreement
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Standard of Care; Limitations of Liability

The Custodian will use best efforts to keep in safe custody on behalf of the Fund all digital assets received by the Custodian. The Custodian is liable to the Manager and the Fund for the loss of any digital assets to the extent that the Custodian directly caused such loss through a breach of the Custodian Agreement, and the Custodian is required to return to the Fund a quantity equal to the quantity of any such lost digital assets. In addition, if the Fund or the Manager is unable to timely withdraw digital assets from the Digital Asset Accounts due to the Custodian’s systems being offline or otherwise unavailable for a period of 48 hours or more, the Custodian will use its best efforts to provide the Manager and the Fund with an amount of digital assets that is equivalent to any pending withdrawal amounts in order to permit the Manager and the Fund to carry on processing withdrawals.

The Custodian’s or Fund’s total liability under the Custodian Agreement will never exceed the greater of the value of the digital assets on deposit in the Digital Asset Accounts at the time of, and directly relating to, the events giving rise to the liability occurred, the value of which will be determined in accordance with the Custodian Agreement. In addition, for as long as a cold storage address for the Fund’s Digital Asset Account holds digital assets with a value in excess of $100 million (the “Cold Storage Threshold”) for a period of five consecutive business days or more without being reduced to the Cold Storage Threshold or lower, the Custodian’s maximum liability for such cold storage address shall be limited to the Cold Storage Threshold. The Manager monitors the value of digital assets deposited in cold storage addresses for whether the Cold Storage Threshold has been met by determining the U.S. dollar value of digital assets deposited in each cold storage address on business days. Although the Cold Storage Threshold has never been met for a given cold storage address, to the extent it is met and not reduced within five business days, the Fund would not have a claim against the Custodian with respect to U.S. dollar value of the digital assets held in such address to the extent the value exceeds the Cold Storage Threshold.

The Custodian or Fund are not liable to each other for any lost profits or any special, incidental, indirect, intangible, or consequential damages, whether based in contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, and whether or not the Custodian has been advised of such losses or the Custodian knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

Furthermore, the Custodian is not liable for delays, suspension of operations, whether temporary or permanent, failure in performance, or interruption of service which result directly or indirectly from any cause or condition beyond the reasonable control of the Custodian, including but not limited to, any delay or failure due to any act of God, natural disasters, act of civil or military authorities, act of terrorists, including but not limited to cyber-related terrorist acts, hacking, government restrictions, exchange or market rulings, civil disturbance, war, strike or other labor dispute, fire, interruption in telecommunications or Internet services or network provider services, failure of equipment and/or software, other catastrophe or any other occurrence which is beyond the reasonable control of the Custodian and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. For the avoidance of doubt, a cybersecurity attack, hack or other intrusion by a third party or by someone associated with the Custodian is not a circumstance that is beyond the Custodian’s reasonable control, to the extent due to the Custodian’s failure to comply with its obligations under the Custodian Agreement.

The Custodian does not bear any liability, whatsoever, for any damage or interruptions caused by any computer viruses, spyware, scareware, Trojan horses, worms or other malware that may affect the Manager’s or the Fund’s computer or other equipment, or any phishing, spoofing or other attack, unless such damage or interruption originated from the Custodian due to its gross negligence, fraud, willful misconduct or breach of the Custodian Agreement.

Indemnity

Each of the Custodian and the Fund has agreed to indemnify and hold harmless the other such parties from any third-party claim or third-party demand (including reasonable and documented attorneys’ fees and any fines, fees or penalties imposed by any regulatory authority) arising out of the Custodian’s or the Fund’s, as the case may be, breach of the Custodian Agreement, inaccuracy in any of the Custodian’s or the Fund’s, as the case may be, representations or warranties in the Custodian Agreement, or the Custodian’s or the Fund’s, as the case may be, knowing, in the case of the Custodian, violation of any law, rule or regulation, or the rights of any third party, except where such claim directly results from the gross negligence, fraud or willful misconduct of the other such party. In addition, the Fund has agreed to indemnify the Custodian with respect to any Forked Assets abandoned by the Fund and any tax liability relating thereto or arising therefrom.

Fees and Expenses

The Custodian Fee is an annualized fee charged monthly that is a percentage of the Fund’s monthly assets under custody. Following the second anniversary of the Custodian Agreement, the fee may be adjusted by the Custodian with at least six months’ advance notice. Any changes to the fee will be agreed to by the Fund and the Manager and the Custodian in writing. To the extent the parties cannot reach an agreement regarding any modifications in pricing, either party may elect to terminate the Custodian Agreement.

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It is the Fund’s and the Manager’s sole responsibility to determine whether, and to what extent, any taxes apply to any deposits or withdrawals conducted through the Custodial Services.

Term; Renewal

Subject to each party’s termination rights, the Custodian Agreement is for a term of two years. Thereafter, the Custodian Agreement automatically renews for successive terms of one year, unless either party elects not to renew, by providing no less than thirty days’ written notice to the other party prior to the expiration of the then-current term, or unless terminated earlier as provided herein.

Termination

During the initial term, either party may terminate the Custodian Agreement for Cause (as defined below) at any time by written notice to the other party, effective immediately, or on such later date as may be specified in the notice. “Cause” is defined as if: (i) such other party commits any material breach of any of its obligations under the Custodian Agreement; (ii) such other party is adjudged bankrupt or insolvent, or there is commenced against such party a case under any applicable bankruptcy, insolvency or other similar law now or hereafter in effect, or such party files an application for an arrangement with its creditors, seeks or consents to the appointment of a receiver, administrator or other similar official for all or any substantial part of its property, admits in writing its inability to pay its debts as they mature, or takes any corporate action in furtherance of any of the foregoing, or fails to meet applicable legal minimum capital requirements; or (iii) with respect to the Fund’s and the Manager’s right to terminate, any applicable law, rule or regulation or any change therein or in the interpretation or administration thereof has or may have a material adverse effect on the rights of the Fund, the Manager or any of their respective beneficiaries with respect to any services covered by the Custodian Agreement.

After the initial term, either party may terminate the Custodian Agreement (i) upon ninety (90) days’ prior written notice to the other party and (ii) for Cause at any time by written notice to the other party, effective immediately, or on such later date as may be specified in the notice.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Manager and the Fund may cancel the Digital Asset Accounts at any time by withdrawing all balances and contacting the Custodian. Upon termination of the Custodian Agreement, the Custodian will promptly upon the Manager’s or the Fund’s order deliver or cause to be delivered all digital assets held or controlled by the Custodian as of the effective date of termination, together with such copies of the records maintained pursuant to the Custodian Agreement and as the Manager and the Fund requests in writing.

Governing Law

The Custodian Agreement is governed by New York law.

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Certain CAYMAN ISLANDS AND U.S. FEDERAL INCOME Tax considerations

The following discussion of Cayman Islands and U.S. federal income tax considerations is not intended as a substitute for careful tax planning. It does not address all of the relevant tax principles that will apply to the Fund and its shareholders. In particular, it does not discuss the tax principles of countries other than the Cayman Islands and the United States or any state or local tax principles. Prospective investors in the Fund are urged to consult their professional advisers regarding the possible tax consequences of an investment in the Fund in light of their own situations.

Certain Cayman Islands Tax Considerations

Taxation—Cayman Islands

The Government of the Cayman Islands will not, under existing legislation, impose any income, corporate or capital gains tax, estate duty, inheritance tax, gift tax or withholding tax upon the Fund or the shareholders. Interest, dividends and gains payable to the Fund and all distributions by the Fund to shareholders will be received free of any Cayman Islands income or withholding taxes. The Fund has received an undertaking from the Financial Secretary of the Cayman Islands to the effect that, for a period of 50 years from the date of the undertaking, no law which is enacted in the Cayman Islands imposing any tax to be levied on profits or income or gains or appreciations shall apply to the Fund or to any shareholder in respect of the operations or assets of the Fund or the Shares of a shareholder; and that any such taxes or any tax in the nature of estate duty or inheritance tax shall not be payable in respect of the obligations of the Fund or the interests of the shareholders therein. The Cayman Islands are not party to a double tax treaty with any country that is applicable to any payments made to or by the Fund.

Cayman Islands—Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information

The Cayman Islands has signed an inter-governmental agreement to improve international tax compliance and the exchange of information with the United States (the “U.S. IGA”). The Cayman Islands has also signed, along with over 100 other countries, a multilateral competent authority agreement to implement the OECD Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information—Common Reporting Standard (“CRS” and together with the U.S. IGA, “AEOI”).

Cayman Islands regulations have been issued to give effect to the U.S. IGA and CRS (collectively, the “AEOI Regulations”). Pursuant to the AEOI Regulations, the Cayman Islands Tax Information Authority (the “TIA”) has published guidance notes on the application of the U.S. IGA and CRS.

All Cayman Islands “Financial Institutions” are required to comply with the registration, due diligence and reporting requirements of the AEOI Regulations, unless they are able to rely on an exemption that allows them to become a “Non-Reporting Financial Institution” (as defined in the relevant AEOI Regulations) with respect to one or more of the AEOI regimes, in which case only the registration requirement would apply under CRS. The Fund does not propose to rely on any Non-Reporting Financial Institution exemption and therefore intends to comply with all of the requirements of the AEOI Regulations.

The AEOI Regulations require the Fund to, amongst other things (i) register with the IRS to obtain a Global Intermediary Identification Number (in the context of the U.S. IGA only), (ii) register with the TIA, and thereby notify the TIA of its status as a “Reporting Financial Institution,” (iii) adopt and implement written policies and procedures setting out how it will address its obligations under CRS, (iv) conduct due diligence on its accounts to identify whether any such accounts are considered “Reportable Accounts,” (v) report information on such Reportable Accounts to the TIA, and (vi) file a CRS Compliance Form with the TIA. The TIA will transmit the information reported to it to the overseas fiscal authority relevant to a reportable account (e.g. the IRS in the case of a US Reportable Account) annually on an automatic basis.

For information on any potential withholding tax that may be levied against the Fund, see also “—Certain United States Tax Considerations.”

By investing in the Fund and/or continuing to invest in the Fund, investors shall be deemed to acknowledge that further information may need to be provided to the Fund, the Fund’s compliance with the AEOI Regulations may result in the disclosure of investor information, and investor information may be exchanged with overseas fiscal authorities. Where an investor fails to provide any requested information (regardless of the consequences), the Fund may be obliged, and/or reserves the right to take any action and/or pursue all remedies at its disposal including, without limitation, compulsory redemption of the investor concerned and/or closure of the investor’s account.

Certain United States Tax Considerations

This summary outlines certain significant U.S. federal income tax principles that are likely to apply to the Fund and the shareholders, given the anticipated nature of the Fund’s investments and activities. Except where specifically addressing considerations

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applicable to Tax-Exempt Investors or Non-U.S. Investors, each as defined below, this discussion assumes that the shareholder is a U.S. Investor, as defined below, that holds its Shares as capital assets.

This summary does not purport to address all of the U.S. federal income tax consequences that may be applicable to any particular shareholder. In some cases, the activities of a shareholder other than its investment in the Fund may affect the tax consequences to such shareholder of an investment in the Fund. For example, this discussion does not describe tax consequences applicable to shareholders subject to special rules, such as regulated investment companies, real estate investment trusts, insurance companies, foreign governments or entities treated as partnerships for U.S. federal income tax purposes. This discussion also does not describe tax consequences applicable to Authorized Participants (or other shareholders acquiring Shares directly from the Fund). This discussion also does not address the application of the alternative minimum tax or the Medicare contribution tax under Section 1411 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”).

The discussion of U.S. federal income tax matters contained herein is based on existing law as contained in the Code, Treasury regulations, administrative rulings and court decisions as of the date of this Annual Report. No assurance can be given that future legislation, administrative rulings or court decisions will not materially and adversely affect the consequences set forth in this summary, possibly on a retroactive basis. Each prospective investor is urged to consult its tax adviser concerning the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund.

For purposes of this summary:

Solely for purposes of the foregoing definitions, a “U.S. Person” is (i) an individual who is a citizen or resident of the United States; (ii) a corporation, or other entity treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes, that is created or organized in or under the laws of the United States, any state therein or the District of Columbia; or (iii) an estate or trust the income of which is subject to U.S. federal income tax regardless of the source thereof.

If the beneficial owner of a Share is an entity that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the U.S. federal income tax treatment of a partner in that partnership will generally depend upon the status of the partner and the activities of the partnership. A prospective investor that is treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes should consult its tax adviser concerning the tax consequences of an investment in the Fund.

Uncertainty Regarding the U.S. Federal Income Tax Treatment of Digital Assets

Due to the new and evolving nature of digital assets and the absence of comprehensive guidance with respect to digital assets, many significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital assets are uncertain. The Manager does not intend to request a ruling from the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) on these issues. Rather, the Manager will cause the Fund will take positions that it believes to be reasonable. There can be no assurance that the IRS will agree with the positions the Fund takes, and it is possible that the IRS will successfully challenge the Fund’s positions.

In 2014, the IRS released a notice (the “Notice”) discussing certain aspects of the treatment of “convertible virtual currency” (that is, digital assets that have an equivalent value in fiat currency or that act as substitutes for fiat currency) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In the Notice, the IRS stated that, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such digital assets (i) are “property,” (ii) are not “currency” for purposes of the rules of the Code relating to foreign currency and (iii) may be held as a capital asset. In 2019, the IRS released a revenue ruling and a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” (the “Ruling & FAQs”) that provide some additional guidance,

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including guidance to the effect that, under certain circumstances, hard forks of digital assets are taxable events giving rise to ordinary income and guidance with respect to the determination of the tax basis of digital assets. However, the Notice and the Ruling & FAQs do not address other significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital assets. For example, although the Notice contemplates that rewards earned from "mining" will constitute taxable income to the miner, there is no guidance directly addressing rewards from Staking or amounts received in connection with digital assets lending activities, including with respect to whether and when engaging in such activities might rise to the level of a trade or business. It is likely, however, that the IRS would assert that Staking or lending digital assets give rise to current, ordinary income. More generally, there also is no guidance directly addressing the U.S. federal income tax consequences of lending digital assets, and it is possible that a lending transaction could be treated as a taxable disposition of the lent digital assets. Because the treatment of digital assets is uncertain, it is possible that the treatment of ownership of any particular digital assets may be adverse to the Fund. For example, ownership of a digital assets could be treated as ownership in an entity, in which case the consequences of ownership of that digital assets would depend on the type and place of organization of the deemed entity. Moreover, although the Ruling & FAQs address the treatment of hard forks, there continues to be uncertainty with respect to the timing and amount of the income inclusions. While the Ruling & FAQs do not address most situations in which airdrops occur, it is clear from the reasoning of the Ruling & FAQs that the IRS generally would treat an airdrop as a taxable event giving rise to ordinary income.

There can be no assurance that the IRS will not alter its position with respect to digital assets in the future or that a court would uphold the treatment set forth in the Notice and the Ruling & FAQs. It is also unclear what additional guidance on the treatment of digital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be issued in the future. Any such alteration of the current IRS positions or additional guidance could result in adverse tax consequences for investors in the Fund and could have an adverse effect on the value of digital assets. Future developments that may arise with respect to digital assets may increase the uncertainty with respect to the treatment of digital assets for U.S. federal income tax purposes. For example, the Notice addresses only digital assets that are “convertible virtual currency,” and it is conceivable that, as a result of a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence, the Fund will hold certain types of digital assets that are not within the scope of the Notice.

The remainder of this discussion assumes that any digital assets that the Fund may hold are properly treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as property that may be held as a capital asset and that is not currency for purposes of the rules with respect to foreign currency gain and loss.

U.S. Entity-Level Taxation of the Fund

The Fund has elected to be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The Manager believes that the Fund will not be treated as engaged in a trade or business in the United States and thus will not derive income that is treated as “effectively connected” with the conduct of a trade or business in the United States (“effectively connected income”). There can, however, be no complete assurance in this regard. In particular, there is no guidance directly addressing the U.S. federal income taxation of Staking, Staking Consideration or lending digital assets, including with respect to whether and when engaging in such activities might rise to the level of a trade or business. If the Fund were treated as engaged in a trade or business in the United States, it would be subject to U.S. federal income tax, at the rates applicable to U.S. corporations (currently, at the rate of 21%), on its net effectively connected income. Any such income might also be subject to U.S. state and local income taxes. In addition, the Fund would be subject to a 30% U.S. branch profits tax in respect of its “dividend equivalent amount,” as defined in Section 884 of the Code, attributable to its effectively connected income (generally, the after-tax amount of certain effectively connected income that is not treated as reinvested in the trade or business). If the Fund were treated as engaged in a trade or business in the United States during any taxable year, it would be required to file a U.S. federal income tax return for that year, regardless of whether it recognized any effectively connected income. If the Fund did not file U.S. federal income tax returns and were later determined to have engaged in a U.S. trade or business, it would generally not be entitled to offset its effectively connected income and gains against its effectively connected losses and deductions (and, therefore, would be taxable on its gross, rather than net, effectively connected income). If the Fund recognizes any effectively connected income, the imposition of U.S. taxes on such income may have a substantial adverse effect on the return to shareholders.

Provided that it does not constitute effectively connected income, any U.S.-source “fixed or determinable annual or periodical” (“FDAP”) income received, or treated as received, by the Fund would generally be subject to U.S. withholding tax at the rate of 30% (subject to statutory exemptions such as the portfolio interest exemption). Although there is no guidance on point, ordinary income recognized by the Fund as a result of a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence would presumably constitute FDAP income. It is also possible that receipt of Staking Consideration or proceeds from lending activities will be considered FDAP income. It is unclear, however, whether any such FDAP income would be properly treated as U.S.-source or foreign-source FDAP income. In the absence of guidance, it is possible that a withholding agent will withhold 30% from any assets derived by the Fund as a consequence of a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence, or from Staking or lending activities.

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U.S. Investors in the Fund

The following discussion outlines certain significant U.S. federal income tax consequences of an investment in the Fund by a U.S. Investor. This discussion assumes that a U.S. Investor holds its interest in the Fund as a capital asset. This discussion assumes that each U.S. Investor will acquire all of its Shares on the same date solely for cash.

Although there is no certainty in this regard, the Fund may be a “passive foreign investment company,” as defined in Section 1297 of the Code (a “PFIC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Fund may be a “controlled foreign corporation” (a “CFC”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes. The material consequences of the PFIC rules and the CFC rules are set forth below. If the Fund is a CFC, the CFC rules, rather than the PFIC rules, will apply to any U.S. Investor that is a 10% U.S. Shareholder, as defined below, of the Fund.

Prospective U.S. Investors should consult their tax advisers concerning the Fund’s potential PFIC status and CFC status, and the tax considerations relevant to an investment in a PFIC or CFC. Prospective U.S. Investors should also read the discussion under the headings “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” “—Information Reporting by Shareholders” and “—FATCA Tax” below.

PFIC Rules

It is not clear whether the Fund is a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes, and the guidance in the Ruling & FAQs has increased the uncertainty in this regard. However, because it is possible that the Fund is a PFIC, the Fund will provide to each U.S. Investor, and to any other shareholder upon request, PFIC Annual Information Statements that will include the required information and representations to permit such U.S. Investor (or any direct or indirect beneficial owner of an interest in such investor) to make a “qualified electing fund” election (a “QEF Election”) with respect to the Fund. Each U.S. Investor should consult its tax adviser as to whether it should make a QEF Election. Assuming that the Fund is a PFIC, failure to make a QEF Election with respect to an investment in the Fund could result in materially adverse tax consequences to a U.S. Investor, as described below.

For simplicity of presentation, it is assumed for purposes of the following disclosure that the Fund is a PFIC.

Consequences in Absence of QEF Election

If a U.S. Investor does not make a QEF Election with respect to the Fund, any “excess distribution” received by the U.S. Investor from the Fund, and any gain recognized by the U.S. Investor on a sale or other disposition (including, under certain circumstances, a pledge) of Shares, will be treated as having been earned ratably (on a straight-line basis) over the U.S. Investor’s holding period for its Shares. The portion allocated to the taxable year of the “excess distribution,” or to the year of the sale or other disposition, will be treated as ordinary income. The portion allocated to each prior taxable year will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the highest marginal rate in effect for the type of U.S. Investor (corporate or individual) for such taxable year, and an interest charge for the deemed deferral benefit will be imposed on the resulting tax liability for each prior taxable year.

If a U.S. Investor does not make a QEF Election, distributions by the Fund to the U.S. Investor, other than “excess distributions,” will be taxable as ordinary income (and not as “qualified dividend income”) to the extent such distributions are made out of the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. To the extent that a distribution (other than an “excess distribution”) exceeds the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, the distribution will be treated, first, as a return of capital that will reduce the U.S. Investor’s tax basis in its Shares and, after such tax basis has been reduced to zero, as gain from a sale or exchange of the U.S. Investor’s Shares, which will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as described above. These rules will apply to any in-kind distribution of a Forked Asset that the Fund makes to a U.S. Investor, with the amount of the distribution equal to the fair market value of such Forked Asset on the date of the distribution.

Consequences Pursuant to QEF Election

A U.S. Investor can mitigate the consequences described above by making a QEF Election with respect to the Fund. A U.S. Investor can make a QEF Election by attaching a properly executed IRS Form 8621 to its U.S. federal income tax return for the first taxable year in which it wishes the election to apply. If a U.S. Investor does not make a QEF Election with respect to the Fund for the first taxable year in which the U.S. Investor holds any Shares, a later QEF Election with respect to the Fund will not apply with respect to the U.S. Investor’s investment in the Fund unless the U.S. Investor elects to recognize gain, if any, as if it sold its Shares on the first day of the first taxable year to which the QEF Election applies. Any gain that a U.S. Investor recognizes as a consequence of such an election will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as described above.

If a U.S. Investor makes a valid QEF Election with respect to its Shares, the U.S. Investor will be required to report on its U.S. federal income tax return, and thus to take into account in determining its U.S. federal income tax liability, its pro rata share of the Fund’s ordinary earnings and net capital gain for the taxable year of the Fund ending within or with such U.S. Investor’s taxable year,

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regardless of whether the Fund makes any distributions to the U.S. Investor. A U.S. Investor will include its pro rata share of the Fund’s ordinary earnings as ordinary income, and will include its pro rata share of the Fund’s net capital gain (that is, the excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss) as long-term capital gain. U.S. Investors will not be entitled to claim deductions for any net losses incurred by the Fund, and the Fund will not be entitled to carry its net losses for any taxable year back or forward in computing its ordinary earnings and net capital gain for other taxable years. In addition, a U.S. Investor will not be entitled to claim a foreign tax credit for any non-U.S. taxes borne by the Fund, but these taxes will reduce the amount of income the U.S. Investor would otherwise be required to include pursuant to the QEF Election. A U.S. Investor’s tax basis in its Shares will be increased by the amounts the U.S. Investor includes in income as a consequence of the QEF Election and decreased by the amount of distributions the U.S. Investor receives from the Fund out of earnings that the U.S. Investor previously included in income as a consequence of the QEF Election.

The Manager believes that, in general, gains and losses recognized by the Fund from the sale or other disposition of digital assets will be treated as capital gains or losses pursuant to the Notice. The Fund may sell digital assets for U.S. dollars or other fiat currency in connection with rebalancings, in order to divest itself of Forked Assets or to pay Additional Fund Expenses and in connection with its liquidation. In addition, the Fund’s payment of the Manager’s Fee or any Additional Fund Expenses through a transfer of digital assets, and any distribution of Forked Assets to the shareholders (or to an agent of the shareholders), will be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a sale of the relevant digital assets for their fair market value on the date of such transfer or distribution, except that solely in the case of a distribution to the shareholders (or their agent), the Fund will not recognize any loss realized by it on such deemed sale. As noted above, the IRS has taken the position in the Ruling & FAQs that, under certain circumstances, a hard fork of a digital asset constitutes a taxable event giving rise to ordinary income, and it is clear from the reasoning of the Ruling & FAQs that the IRS generally would treat an airdrop as a taxable event giving rise to ordinary income. In addition, any gain or loss the Fund recognizes on a disposition of a fiat currency other than the U.S. dollar will generally be treated as ordinary income or loss.

As discussed above, there is uncertainty with respect to many significant aspects of the U.S. federal income tax treatment of digital assets, including the timing and character of income earned as a result of Staking Activities or lending activities. If the IRS successfully challenges the Fund’s determination of its income, the Fund may be required to issue revised PFIC Annual Information Statements for prior taxable years, and U.S. Investors may be required to amend their tax returns for those years.

Assuming that a U.S. Investor makes a QEF Election with respect to its Shares, a distribution by the Fund to the U.S. Investor will be taxable as ordinary income (and not as “qualified dividend income”) to the extent such distributions are made out of the Fund’s current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes, except to the extent that the U.S. Investor can establish that the distributions are made out of earnings that were previously included in income by any U.S. person as a consequence of a QEF Election. The portion of any such distribution that the U.S. Investor can establish as being made out of earnings that were previously included in a U.S. person’s income pursuant to a QEF Election will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax. To the extent that a distribution exceeds the Fund’s current and accumulated earnings and profits, the distribution will be treated, first, as a return of capital that will reduce the U.S. Investor’s tax basis in its Shares and, after such tax basis has been reduced to zero, as gain from a sale or exchange of the U.S. Investor’s Shares. These rules will apply to any in-kind distribution of a Forked Asset that the Fund makes to a U.S. Investor, with the amount of the distribution equal to the fair market value of such Forked Asset on the date of the distribution.

Upon a sale or other exchange of Shares, a U.S. Investor will generally recognize gain or loss equal to the difference between the amount realized and the U.S. Investor’s tax basis in its Shares. Assuming that the U.S. Investor has made a QEF Election with respect to its Shares, any such gain or loss will constitute capital gain or loss, and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the U.S. Investor’s holding period for the Shares was more than one year as of the date of the sale or other exchange.

A U.S. Investor that makes a QEF Election with respect to its Shares may also elect to defer the payment of the taxes in respect of its share of the Fund’s undistributed ordinary earnings and net capital gain, subject to the payment of an interest charge on the deferred tax liability. If a U.S. Investor makes this election, the deferred tax liability with respect to the undistributed earnings attributable to its Shares will generally become payable on the due date (determined without regard to extensions) of the U.S. Investor’s U.S. federal income tax return for the taxable year in which the U.S. Investor sells or pledges such Shares. If the Fund makes a distribution, however, the deferred tax liability with respect to the U.S. Investor’s share of the distributed earnings will become payable on the due date (determined without regard to extensions) of the U.S. Investor’s U.S. federal income tax return for the taxable year in which the distribution occurs.

CFC Rules

In general, a non-U.S. corporation will be treated as a “controlled foreign corporation” for U.S. federal income tax purposes (a “CFC”) if more than 50% of its stock, by vote or value, is owned, directly or under applicable constructive ownership rules, by 10% U.S. Shareholders. A “10% U.S. Shareholder” is a U.S. person (including a U.S. partnership) that owns, directly or under applicable constructive ownership rules, at least 10% of the value or voting power of the non-U.S. corporation’s stock. If the Fund were treated as a CFC, the PFIC rules would not apply to a U.S. Investor that was a 10% U.S. Shareholder (but would continue to apply to other U.S.

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Investors). Instead, a 10% U.S. Shareholder generally would be required to take into account, as ordinary income, its share of all of the Fund’s income and gain for each taxable year, without regard to whether the Fund made any distributions. In addition, all or a portion of the gain recognized by a 10% U.S. Shareholder upon the sale or exchange of an interest in the Fund could conceivably be recharacterized as dividend income that would be taxable as ordinary income.

In-Kind Distributions of Forked Assets

If the Fund distributes Forked Assets in kind to the shareholders (or to an agent of the shareholders), the Fund will recognize gain (if any) as if it had sold the Forked Assets for their fair market value on the date of the distribution. As discussed above, any such gain will be reported on the Fund’s PFIC Annual Information Statements for the year in which the distribution occurs. For U.S. federal income tax purposes, the shareholders will be treated as receiving a distribution from the Fund in an amount equal to the fair market value of the Forked Assets on the date of the distribution, without regard to whether the distribution is made directly to the shareholders or to an agent on behalf of the shareholders. For the consequences of any such distribution to a U.S. Investor, see “—U.S. Investors in the Fund.”

Upon the sale or other disposition of such distributed Forked Assets by the shareholders’ agent, a U.S. Investor will recognize gain or loss in an amount equal to the difference between (i) the fair market value of the U.S. Investor’s share of such Forked Assets (which, in the case of a sale by such agent, generally will be equal to the U.S. Investor’s share of the cash proceeds received by the agent, reduced by the U.S. Investor’s share of any selling expenses incurred by the agent on such U.S. Investor’s behalf) and (ii) the U.S. Investor’s basis in its share of such Forked Assets (which generally will be equal to the fair market value of the U.S. Investor’s share of such Forked Assets on the date of the distribution by the Fund). In general, such gain or loss will be short-term capital gain or loss if the sale or other disposition occurs within one year after the Fund’s in-kind distribution of the Forked Assets and will be long-term capital gain or loss if the sale or other disposition occurs more than one year after such in-kind distribution. The deductibility of capital losses is subject to significant limitations.

Tax-Exempt Investors in the Fund

In general, Tax-Exempt Investors are subject to U.S. federal income taxation with respect to any unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”) they derive. UBTI generally does not include certain specified types of income, including dividends or gains from the sale, exchange or other disposition of property other than inventory or property held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of a trade or business. However, UBTI includes “unrelated debt-financed income,” which is generally defined as any income derived from property in respect of which “acquisition indebtedness” is outstanding, even if the income would otherwise be excluded in computing UBTI.

In general, a Tax-Exempt Investor’s income from an investment in the Fund should not be treated as resulting in UBTI, provided that the Tax-Exempt Investor’s acquisition of its Shares is not debt-financed. Specifically, a Tax-Exempt Investor’s income from the Fund should not be treated as UBTI as a consequence of the Fund’s recognition of any income that would be treated as UBTI if derived directly by the Tax-Exempt Investor, including the Fund’s share of any income arising from a fork, airdrop or similar occurrence. If a Tax-Exempt Investor’s acquisition of any Shares is debt-financed, all or a portion of such Tax-Exempt Investor’s income attributable to such Shares will be included in UBTI. The portion of a Tax-Exempt Investor’s income attributable to its Shares that is treated as UBTI will be subject to U.S. federal income tax as discussed in “—U.S. Investors in the Fund.”

It is possible that the Fund is a PFIC. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Fund may be a CFC. A Tax-Exempt Investor will not be subject to income tax under the PFIC rules, and should not be subject to income tax under the CFC rules, if it is not otherwise taxable under the UBTI provisions with respect to its ownership of its Shares (i.e., because its investment in the Fund is debt-financed).

A charitable remainder trust is not subject to U.S. federal income taxation with respect to UBTI, but instead is subject to a U.S. federal excise tax equal to the entire amount of any UBTI it derives. In general, if the Fund is a PFIC or a CFC, U.S. beneficiaries of any Tax-Exempt Investor that is a charitable remainder trust will be treated for purposes of the PFIC rules and the CFC rules as owning their proportionate shares of such Tax-Exempt Investor’s Shares for purposes of the regimes applicable to U.S. investors in PFICs and CFCs. Any such U.S. beneficiary could be subject to materially adverse tax consequences under the PFIC rules or the CFC rules. Upon request, the Fund will provide shareholders with information necessary to permit any such U.S. person to make a QEF Election with respect to the Fund. Any prospective shareholder that is a charitable remainder trust should consult its tax adviser regarding the advisability of an investment in the Fund.

Tax-Exempt Investors that are private foundations, or that are “applicable educational institutions” as defined in Section 4968 of the Code, should consult their tax advisers about the possible excise tax consequences to them of an investment in Shares.

Prospective Tax-Exempt Investors in the Fund should also read the discussion under the headings “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding,” “—Information Reporting by Shareholders” and “—FATCA Tax” below.

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Non-U.S. Investors in the Fund

Except as discussed below under “—FATCA Tax,” a Non-U.S. Investor will not be subject to U.S. federal income or withholding tax on distributions received in respect of its Shares, on gains recognized on a sale or other disposition of its Shares or the sale of Forked Assets by an agent on its behalf.

It is possible that the Fund is a PFIC. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Fund may be a CFC. In general, if the Fund is a PFIC or a CFC, all or certain U.S. persons sufficiently related by equity ownership to a Non-U.S. Investor that is a corporation, partnership, trust or estate will be treated as owning their proportionate shares of the Non-U.S. Investor’s Shares for purposes of the regimes applicable to U.S. investors in PFICs and CFCs. Treatment of a U.S. person as the owner of an equity interest in a PFIC or CFC could have materially adverse tax consequences for such person. Upon request, the Fund will provide shareholders with information necessary to permit any such U.S. person to make a QEF Election with respect to the Fund.

Prospective Non-U.S. Investors in the Fund should also read the discussion under the headings “—Information Reporting and Backup Withholding” and “—FATCA Tax” below.

Information Reporting and Backup Withholding

Payments of Fund dividends, and of proceeds from sales of Shares, that are made to a U.S. Investor within the United States or through certain U.S.-related financial intermediaries will generally be subject to U.S. information reporting, and may be subject to U.S. backup withholding, unless (i) the U.S. Investor is a corporation or other exempt recipient or (ii) in the case of backup withholding, the U.S. Investor provides a correct taxpayer identification number and certifies that it is not subject to backup withholding. The amount of any backup withholding from a payment to a U.S. Investor will be allowed as a credit against the U.S. Investor’s U.S. federal income tax liability and may entitle the U.S. Investor to a refund, provided that the required information is timely furnished to the IRS.

In order to reduce or eliminate U.S. information reporting requirements and U.S. backup withholding in respect of distributions made by the Fund and proceeds from on a sale or other disposition of Shares, a Non-U.S. Investor must comply with certain certification requirements (generally, by delivering a properly executed IRS Form W-8BEN or W-8BEN-E to the Fund).

Information Reporting by Shareholders

U.S. Investors may be subject to various information reporting requirements as a consequence of an investment in the Fund. Failure to satisfy these requirements may result in substantial penalties. Certain U.S. federal information reporting requirements are summarized below, but this summary does not purport to provide an exhaustive list of such requirements. Tax-Exempt Investors may also be subject to these and other information reporting requirements as a consequence of an investment in the Fund. Prospective investors are urged to consult their tax advisers concerning the information reporting requirements to which they may be subject as a consequence of an investment in the Fund.

Unless a U.S. Investor who is an individual holds his or her Shares in a financial account maintained by a financial institution, the U.S. Investor will be required to report information relating to his or her ownership of Shares on IRS Form 8938 for each taxable year in which he or she holds interests in “specified foreign financial assets,” as defined in Section 6038D of the Code, including Shares, with an aggregate value in excess of an applicable threshold amount. Certain U.S. Investors that are entities may be subject to similar rules.

If the Fund is a PFIC, a U.S. Investor will generally be required to file IRS Form 8621 with respect to the Fund for each year in which it holds its Shares. Any U.S. Investor that (a) acquires (whether in one or more transactions) a 10% or greater interest in the Fund (determined by applying certain attribution rules) or (b) reduces its interest in the Fund to less than 10% will generally be required to file IRS Form 5471. Additional reporting requirements will apply to any U.S. Investor owning a 10% or greater interest in the Fund (determined by applying certain attribution rules) if the Fund is a CFC.

A direct or indirect participant in any “reportable transaction” must disclose its participation to the IRS on IRS Form 8886. Furthermore, a “material adviser” to a reportable transaction is required to maintain a list of each person with respect to whom such adviser acted as a material adviser and to disclose to the IRS certain other information regarding the transaction. For purposes of the disclosure rules, a U.S. person that owns at least 10% of the voting power or value of the shares of a CFC is generally treated as a participant in a reportable transaction in which the relevant foreign corporation participates. It is possible that the Fund will participate in one or more transactions that all or certain U.S. Investors would be required to report if the Fund were a CFC. A U.S. Investor also may be required to report a transfer of all or any portion of its Shares if it recognizes a loss on the transfer that equals or exceeds an applicable threshold amount. Certain states, including New York, have similar reporting requirements.

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FATCA Tax

Under certain provisions of the Code and Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder (commonly referred to as “FATCA”), as well as certain intergovernmental agreements between the United States and certain other countries (including the Cayman Islands) together with expected local country implementing legislation, certain payments made in respect of the Shares may be subject to withholding (“FATCA withholding”).

The Fund (or a relevant intermediary) may be required to impose FATCA withholding on payments in respect of the Shares to the extent that such payments are “foreign passthru payments,” made to non-U.S. financial institutions (including intermediaries) that have not entered into agreements with the IRS pursuant to FATCA or otherwise established an exemption from FATCA, and other shareholders that fail to provide sufficient identifying information to the Fund or any relevant intermediary. The term “foreign passthru payment” is not yet defined. It is not clear whether and to what extent payments on the Shares will be considered foreign passthru payments subject to FATCA withholding or how intergovernmental agreements will address foreign passthru payments (including whether withholding on foreign passthru payments will be required under such agreements). Withholding on foreign passthru payments will not apply prior to the date that is two years after the publication of the final regulations defining “foreign passthru payments.” Shareholders should consult their tax advisers as to how these rules may apply to payments they receive under the Shares.

ERISA and Related Considerations

The following section sets forth certain consequences under ERISA and the Code which a fiduciary of an “employee benefit plan” as defined in and subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA, or of a “plan” as defined in and subject to Section 4975 of the Code, who has investment discretion should consider before deciding to acquire Shares with plan assets in the Fund (such “employee benefit plans” and “plans” being referred to herein as “Plans,” and such fiduciaries with investment discretion being referred to herein as “Plan Fiduciaries”). The following summary is not intended to be complete, but only to address certain questions under ERISA and the Code that are likely to be raised by the Plan Fiduciary’s own counsel.

* * * *

In general, the terms “employee benefit plan” as defined in ERISA and “plan” as defined in Section 4975 of the Code together refer to any plan or account of various types which provides retirement benefits or welfare benefits to an individual or to an employer’s employees and their beneficiaries. Such plans and accounts include, but are not limited to, corporate pension and profit sharing plans, “simplified employee pension plans,” Keogh plans for self-employed individuals (including partners), individual retirement accounts described in Section 408 of the Code and medical benefit plans.

Each Plan Fiduciary must give appropriate consideration to the facts and circumstances that are relevant to an investment in the Fund, including the role an investment in the Fund plays in the Plan’s investment portfolio. Each Plan Fiduciary must be satisfied that investment in the Fund is a prudent investment for the Plan, that the investments of the Plan, including the investment in the Fund, are diversified so as to minimize the risks of large losses and that an investment in the Fund complies with the documents of the Plan and related trust and that an investment in the Fund does not give rise to a transaction prohibited by Section 406 of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code.

Governmental plans, non-U.S. plans and certain church plans, while generally not subject to the fiduciary responsibility or prohibited transaction provisions of ERISA or Section 4975 of the Code, may be subject to provisions under other U.S. or non-U.S. federal, state, local or other laws or regulations that are similar to such provisions of ERISA or the Code. Fiduciaries of such plans should consider the consequences of an investment in the Fund under any such applicable similar laws or regulations before acquiring any Shares.

EACH PLAN FIDUCIARY CONSIDERING ACQUIRING SHARES MUST CONSULT ITS OWN LEGAL AND TAX ADVISERS BEFORE DOING SO.

Restrictions on Investments by Benefit Plan Investors

ERISA and a regulation issued thereunder contain rules for determining when an investment by a Plan in an entity will result in the underlying assets of the entity being deemed assets of the Plan for purposes of ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code (i.e., “plan assets”). Those rules provide that the assets of an entity will not be deemed “plan assets” of a Plan that purchases an interest therein if the investment in the entity by all “benefit plan investors” is not “significant” or certain other exceptions apply. The term “benefit plan investors” includes all Plans (i.e., all “employee benefit plans” as defined in and subject to the fiduciary responsibility provisions of ERISA and all “plans” as defined in and subject to Section 4975 of the Code) and all entities that hold “plan assets” (each, a “Plan Assets Entity”) due to investments made in such entities by already described benefit plan investors. ERISA provides that a Plan Assets Entity is considered to hold plan assets only to the extent of the percentage of the Plan Assets Entity’s equity interests held by benefit plan investors. In addition, all or part of an investment made by an insurance company using assets from its general account may be

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treated as a benefit plan investor. Investments by benefit plan investors will be deemed not significant if benefit plan investors own, in the aggregate, less than 25% of the total value of each class of equity interests of the entity (determined by not including the investments of persons with discretionary authority or control over the assets of such entity, of any person who provides investment advice for a fee (direct or indirect) with respect to such assets, and “affiliates” (as defined in the regulations issued under ERISA) of such persons; provided, however, that under no circumstances are investments by benefit plan investors excluded from such calculation).

In order to avoid causing assets of the Fund to be “plan assets,” the Manager intends to restrict the aggregate investment by “benefit plan investors” to under 25% of the total value of the Shares of the Fund (not including the investments of the Manager, the distributor, any other person who provides investment advice for a fee (direct or indirect) with respect to the assets of the Fund, any other person who has discretionary authority or control over the assets of the Fund, and any entity (other than a benefit plan investor) that is directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controlling, controlled by or under common control with any of such entities (including a partnership or other entity for which the Manager is the general partner, managing member, investment adviser or provides investment advice), and each of the principals, officers, and employees of any of the foregoing entities who has the power to exercise a controlling influence over the management or policies of such entity or the Fund). Furthermore, because the 25% test is ongoing, it not only restricts additional investments by benefit plan investors, but also can cause the Manager to require that existing benefit plan investors redeem from the Fund in the event that other investors redeem their Shares. If rejection of subscriptions or such compulsory redemptions are necessary, as determined by the Manager, to avoid causing the assets of the Fund to be “plan assets,” the Manager will effect such rejections or redemptions in such manner as the Manager, in its sole discretion, determines.

Ineligible Purchasers

In general, Shares may not be purchased with the assets of a Plan if the Manager, the distributor, any placement agent, any of their respective affiliates or any of their respective employees either: (i) has investment discretion with respect to the investment of such Plan assets; (ii) has authority or responsibility to give or regularly gives investment advice with respect to such Plan assets, for a fee, and pursuant to an agreement or understanding that such advice will serve as a primary basis for investment decisions with respect to such Plan assets and that such advice will be based on the particular investment needs of the Plan; or (iii) is an employer maintaining or contributing to such Plan. A party that is described in clause (i) or (ii) of the preceding sentence is a fiduciary under ERISA and the Code with respect to the Plan, and any such purchase (as described in clause (i), (ii) or (iii)) could result in a “prohibited transaction” under ERISA and the Code.

Except as otherwise set forth, the foregoing statements regarding the consequences under ERISA and the Code of an investment in the Fund are based on the provisions of ERISA and the Code as currently in effect, and the existing administrative and judicial interpretations thereunder. No assurance can be given that administrative, judicial or legislative changes will not occur that may make the foregoing statements incorrect or incomplete.

ACCEPTANCE OF SUBSCRIPTIONS ON BEHALF OF PLANS IS IN NO RESPECT A REPRESENTATION BY THE MANAGER OR ANY OTHER PARTY RELATED TO THE FUND THAT THIS INVESTMENT MEETS THE RELEVANT LEGAL REQUIREMENTS WITH RESPECT TO INVESTMENTS BY ANY PARTICULAR PLAN PLANS GENERALLY OR THAT THIS INVESTMENT IS APPROPRIATE FOR ANY PARTICULAR PLAN OR PLANS GENERALLY. THE PERSON WITH INVESTMENT DISCRETION FOR ANY PLAN SHOULD CONSULT WITH HIS OR HER OWN COUNSEL AND ADVISERS AS TO THE PROPRIETY OF AN INVESTMENT IN THE FUND, IN LIGHT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PARTICULAR PLAN.

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