Item 1A. Risk Factors
There have been no material changes to the Risk Factors last reported under “Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors” of the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, except as set forth below.
Recent developments in the digital asset economy have led to extreme volatility and disruption in digital asset markets, a loss of confidence in participants of the digital asset ecosystem, significant negative publicity surrounding digital assets broadly and market-wide declines in liquidity.
Beginning in the fourth quarter of 2021 and continuing throughout 2022, digital asset prices began falling precipitously, with the price of XLM falling by nearly 79% from November 30, 2021 to December 31, 2022. This has led to volatility and disruption in the digital asset markets and financial difficulties for several prominent industry participants, including digital asset exchanges, hedge funds and lending platforms. For example, in the first half of 2022, digital asset lenders Celsius Network LLC and Voyager Digital Ltd. and digital asset hedge fund Three Arrows Capital each declared bankruptcy. This resulted in a loss of confidence in participants in the digital asset ecosystem, negative publicity surrounding digital assets more broadly and market-wide declines in digital asset trading prices and liquidity.
Thereafter, in November 2022, FTX, the third largest Digital Asset Exchange by volume at the time, halted customer withdrawals amid rumors of the company’s liquidity issues and likely insolvency. Shortly thereafter, FTX’s CEO resigned and FTX and several affiliates of FTX filed for bankruptcy. The U.S. Department of Justice subsequently brought criminal charges, including charges of fraud, violations of federal securities laws, money laundering, and campaign finance offenses, against FTX’s former CEO and others. FTX is also under investigation by the SEC, the Justice Department, and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as by various regulatory authorities in the Bahamas, Europe and other jurisdictions. In response to these events, the digital asset markets have experienced extreme price volatility and declines in liquidity, and regulatory and enforcement scrutiny has increased, including from the DOJ, the SEC, the CFTC, the White House and Congress. In addition, several other entities in the digital asset industry filed for bankruptcy following FTX’s bankruptcy filing, such as BlockFi Inc. and Genesis Global Holdco, LLC (“Genesis Holdco”), both of which are digital asset lenders. The SEC also brought charges against Genesis Global Capital, LLC, a subsidiary of Genesis Holdco, and Gemini Trust Company, LLC on January 12, 2023 for their alleged unregistered offer and sale of securities to retail investors.
Genesis Holdco, together with certain of its subsidiaries, filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in January 2023. While Genesis Holdco is not a service provider to the Trust, it is an affiliate of Genesis Global Trading, Inc., which acts as a Liquidity Provider to the Authorized Participant of the Trust, is a wholly owned subsidiary of DCG, and is an affiliate of the Trust and the Sponsor. The Liquidity Provider sources digital assets on behalf of the Authorized Participant in connection with the creation of Shares. As such, if Genesis Holdco’s bankruptcy, including the potential sale or transfer of the Liquidity Provider’s equity and/or assets as part of the bankruptcy negotiations, has a negative impact on the Liquidity Provider’s ability to act in such capacity, the Authorized Participant may be required to replace the Liquidity Provider, which could negatively impact the Trust’s ability to create new Shares.
These events have led to significant negative publicity around digital asset market participants including DCG, Genesis and DCG's other affiliated entities. This publicity could negatively impact the reputation of the Sponsor and have an adverse effect on the trading price and/or the value of the Shares. Moreover, sales of a significant number of Shares of the Trust as a result of these events could have a negative impact on the trading price of the Shares.
These events are continuing to develop at a rapid pace and it is not possible to predict at this time all of the risks that they may pose to the Sponsor, the Trust, their affiliates and/or the Trust’s third party service providers, or on the digital asset industry as a whole. Continued disruption and instability in the digital asset markets as these events develop, including further declines in the trading prices and liquidity of XLM, could have a material adverse effect on the value of the Shares and the Shares could lose all or substantially all of their value.
The Trust relies on third party service providers to perform certain functions essential to the affairs of the Trust and the replacement of such service providers could pose a challenge to the safekeeping of the Trust’s XLM and to the operations of the Trust.
The Trust relies on the Custodian, the Authorized Participant and other third party service providers to perform certain functions essential to managing the affairs of the Trust. In addition, the Authorized Participant relies on the Liquidity Provider to source XLM in connection
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with the creation of Shares. Any disruptions to such service providers’ business operations, resulting from business failures, financial instability, security failures, government mandated regulation or operational problems could have an adverse impact on the Trust’s ability to access critical services and be disruptive to the operations of the Trust and require the Sponsor to replace such service provider. Moreover, the Sponsor could decide to replace a service provider to the Trust, or the Authorized Participant may decide to replace the Liquidity Provider for other reasons.
If the Sponsor decides, or is required, to replace Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC as the custodian of the Trust’s XLM, transferring maintenance responsibilities of the Digital Asset Account to another party will likely be complex and could subject the Trust’s XLM to the risk of loss during the transfer, which could have a negative impact on the performance of the Shares or result in loss of the Trust’s assets.
Moreover, the legal rights of customers with respect to digital assets held on their behalf by a third-party custodian, such as the Custodian, in insolvency proceedings are currently uncertain. The Custody Agreement contains an agreement by the parties to treat the digital assets credited to the Trust’s Digital Asset Account as financial assets under Article 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (“Article 8”), in addition to stating that the Custodian will serve as fiduciary and custodian on the Trust’s behalf. The Custodian’s parent, Coinbase Global Inc., has stated in its most recent public securities filings that in light of the inclusion in its custody agreements of provisions relating to Article 8 it believes that a court would not treat custodied digital assets as part of its general estate in the event the Custodian were to experience insolvency. However, due to the novelty of digital asset custodial arrangements courts have not yet considered this type of treatment for custodied digital assets and it is not possible to predict with certainty how they would rule in such a scenario. If the Custodian became subject to insolvency proceedings and a court were to rule that the custodied digital assets were part of the Custodian’s general estate and not the property of the Trust, then the Trust would be treated as a general unsecured creditor in the Custodian’s insolvency proceedings and the Trust would be subject to the loss of all or a significant portion of its assets.
To the extent that Sponsor is not able to find a suitable party willing to serve as the custodian, the Sponsor may be required to terminate the Trust and liquidate the Trust’s XLM. In addition, to the extent that the Sponsor finds a suitable party and must enter into a modified Custodian Agreement that is less favorable for the Trust or Sponsor and/or transfer the Trust’s assets in a relatively short time period, the safekeeping of the Trust’s XLM may be adversely affected, which may in turn adversely affect value of the Shares. Likewise, if the Sponsor and/or the Authorized Participant is required to replace any other service provider, they may not be able to find a party willing to serve in such capacity in a timely manner or at all. If the Sponsor decides, or is required, to replace the Authorized Participant and/or if the Authorized Participant decides, or is required, to replace the Liquidity Provider, this could negatively impact the Trust’s ability to create new Shares, which would impact the Shares’ liquidity and could have a negative impact on the value of the Shares.
Item 6. Exhibits
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Exhibit Number |
Exhibit Description |
4.1 |
Participant Agreement, dated October 3, 2022, between Grayscale Investments, LLC and Grayscale Securities, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 of the periodic report on Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on October 3, 2022). |
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10.1 |
Distribution and Marketing Agreement, dated October 3, 2022, between Grayscale Investments, LLC and Grayscale Securities, LLC (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 of the periodic report on Form 8-K filed by the Registrant on October 3, 2022). |
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31.1 |
Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. |
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31.2 |
Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Rule 13a-14(a) and 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, with respect to the Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. |
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32.1 |
Certification of Principal Executive Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, with respect to the Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. |
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32.2 |
Certification of Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, with respect to the Trust’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. |
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101.INS* |
Inline XBRL Instance Document – the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document. |
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101.SCH* |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document |
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101.CAL* |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document |
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101.LAB* |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document |
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101.PRE* |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document |
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101.DEF* |
Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document |
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104 |
Cover Page Interactive Data File—The cover page interactive data file does not appear in the interactive data file because its XBRL tags are embedded within the inline XBRL document. |
* Pursuant to Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, these interactive data files are deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, are deemed not filed for the purposes of Section 18 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and otherwise are not subject to liability under those sections.
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Glossary of Defined Terms
“Actual Exchange Rate”—With respect to any particular asset, at any time, the price per single unit of such asset (determined net of any associated fees) at which the Trust is able to sell such asset for U.S. dollars (or other applicable fiat currency) at such time to enable the Trust to timely pay any Additional Trust Expenses, through use of the Sponsor’s commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the highest such price.
“Additional Trust Expenses”—Together, any expenses incurred by the Trust in addition to the Sponsor’s Fee that are not Sponsor-paid Expenses, including, but not limited to, (i) taxes and governmental charges, (ii) expenses and costs of any extraordinary services performed by the Sponsor (or any other service provider) on behalf of the Trust to protect the Trust or the interests of shareholders (including in connection with any Incidental Rights and any IR Virtual Currency), (iii) any indemnification of the Custodian or other agents, service providers or counterparties of the Trust, (iv) 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 (v) extraordinary legal fees and expenses, including any legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with litigation, regulatory enforcement or investigation matters.
“Administrator Fee”—The fee payable to any administrator of the Trust for services it provides to the Trust, which the Sponsor will pay such administrator as a Sponsor-paid Expense.
“Agent”—A Person appointed by the Trust to act on behalf of the shareholders in connection with any distribution of Incidental Rights and/or IR Virtual Currency.
“Authorized Participant”—Certain eligible financial institutions that have entered into an agreement with the Trust and the Sponsor concerning the creation of Shares. Each Authorized Participant (i) is a registered broker-dealer, (ii) has entered into a Participant Agreement with the Sponsor and (iii) owns a digital wallet address that is known to the Custodian as belonging to the Authorized Participant or such Authorized Participant’s Liquidity Provider.
“Basket”—A block of 100 Shares.
“Basket Amount”—On any trade date, the number of XLM required as of such trade date for each Creation Basket, as determined by dividing (x) the number of XLM owned by the Trust at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on such trade date, after deducting the number of XLM representing the U.S. dollar value of accrued but unpaid fees and expenses of the Trust (converted using the Index Price at such time, and carried to the eighth decimal place), by (y) the number of Shares outstanding at such time (with the quotient so obtained calculated to one one-hundred-millionth of one XLM (i.e., carried to the eighth decimal place)), and multiplying such quotient by 100.
“Blockchain” or “Stellar Ledger”—The public transaction ledger of the Stellar Network on which transactions in XLM are recorded.
“Creation Basket”—Basket of Shares issued by the Trust in exchange for deposits of the Basket Amount required for each such Creation Basket.
“Custodial Services”—The Custodian’s services that (i) allow XLM to be deposited from a public blockchain address to the Trust’s Digital Asset Account and (ii) allow the Trust and the Sponsor to withdraw XLM from the Trust’s Digital Asset Account to a public blockchain address the Trust or the Sponsor controls pursuant to instructions the Trust or the Sponsor provides to the Custodian.
“Custodian”—Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC.
“Custodian Agreement”—The Amended and Restated Custodial Services Agreement, dated as of June 29, 2022, by and between the Trust and the Sponsor and Custodian that governs the Trust’s and the Sponsor’s use of the Custodial Services provided by the Custodian as a fiduciary with respect to the Trust’s assets.
“Custodian Fee”—Fee payable to the Custodian for services it provides to the Trust, which the Sponsor shall pay to the Custodian as a Sponsor-paid Expense.
“DCG”—Digital Currency Group, Inc.
“Digital Asset Account”—A segregated custody account controlled and secured by the Custodian to store private keys, which allow for the transfer of ownership or control of the Trust’s XLM on the Trust’s behalf.
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“Digital Asset Exchange”—An electronic marketplace where exchange participants may trade, buy and sell XLM based on bid-ask trading. The largest Digital Asset Exchanges are online and typically trade on a 24-hour basis, publishing transaction price and volume data.
“Digital Asset Exchange Market”—The global exchange market for the trading of XLM, which consists of transactions on electronic Digital Asset Exchanges.
“Digital Asset Holdings”—The aggregate value, expressed in U.S. dollars, of the Trust’s assets (other than U.S. dollars or other fiat currency), less its liabilities (which include estimated accrued but unpaid fees and expenses) calculated in the manner set forth under “Item 1. Business—Valuation of XLM and Determination of Digital Asset Holdings” in our Annual Report. See also “Item 1. Business—Investment Objective” in our Annual Report for a description of the Trust’s NAV, as calculated in accordance with GAAP.
“Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount”—The amount on which the Sponsor’s Fee for the Trust is based, as calculated in the manner set forth under “Item 1. Business—Valuation of XLM and Determination of Digital Asset Holdings” in our Annual Report.
“Digital Asset Market”—A “Brokered Market,” “Dealer Market,” “Principal-to-Principal Market” or “Exchange Market,” as each such term is defined in the Financial Accounting Standards Board Accounting Standards Codification Master Glossary.
“DSTA”—The Delaware Statutory Trust Act, as amended.
“DTC”—The Depository Trust Company. DTC is a limited purpose trust company organized under New York law, a member of the U.S. Federal Reserve System and a clearing agency registered with the SEC. DTC will act as the securities depository for the Shares.
“Exchange Act”—The Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
“FINRA”—The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., which is the primary regulator in the United States for broker-dealers, including Authorized Participants.
“GAAP”—United States generally accepted accounting principles.
“Genesis”—Genesis Global Trading, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, Inc., which as of the date of this Quarterly Report, is the only Liquidity Provider of the Authorized Participant.
“Grayscale Securities”—Grayscale Securities, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sponsor, which as of the date of this Quarterly Report, is the only acting Authorized Participant.
“Incidental Rights”—Rights to acquire, or otherwise establish dominion and control over, any virtual currency or other asset or right, which rights are incident to the Trust’s ownership of XLM and arise without any action of the Trust, or of the Sponsor or Trustee on behalf of the Trust.
“Index”—The CoinDesk Lumens Price Index (XLMX).
“Index License Agreement”—The license agreement, dated as of February 1, 2022, between the Index Provider and the Sponsor governing the Sponsor’s use of the Index for calculation of the Index Price.
“Index Price”—The U.S. dollar value of an XLM derived from the Digital Asset Exchanges that are reflected in the Index, calculated at 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each business day. See “Item 1. Business—Overview of the XLM Industry and Market—XLM Value—The Index and the Index Price” in our Annual Report for a description of how the Index Price is calculated. For purposes of the Trust Agreement, the term XLM Index Price shall mean the Index Price as defined herein.
“Index Provider”—CoinDesk Indices, Inc., a Delaware corporation that publishes the Index. DCG is the indirect parent company of CoinDesk Indices, Inc. As a result, CoinDesk Indices, Inc. is an affiliate of the Sponsor and the Trust and is considered a related party of the Trust.
“Investment Advisers Act”—Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.
“Investment Company Act”—Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
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“Investor”—Any investor that has entered into a subscription agreement with an Authorized Participant, pursuant to which such Authorized Participant will act as agent for the investor.
“IR Virtual Currency”—Any virtual currency tokens, or other asset or right, acquired by the Trust through the exercise (subject to the applicable provisions of the Trust Agreement) of any Incidental Right.
“Liquidity Provider”—A service provider engaged by an Authorized Participant to source XLM on behalf of the Authorized Participant.
“Marketing Fee”—Fee payable to the marketer for services it provides to the Trust, which the Sponsor will pay to the marketer as a Sponsor-paid Expense.
“NAV”—The net asset value of the Trust determined on a GAAP basis.
“OTCQX”—The OTCQX tier of OTC Markets Group Inc.
“Participant Agreement”—An agreement entered into by an Authorized Participant with the Sponsor that provides the procedures for the creation of Baskets and for the delivery of XLM required for Creation Baskets.
“SEC”—The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Secondary Market”—Any marketplace or other alternative trading system, as determined by the Sponsor, on which the Shares may then be listed, quoted or traded, including but not limited to, the OTCQX tier of the OTC Markets Group Inc.
“Securities Act”—The Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
“Shares”—Common units of fractional undivided beneficial interest in, and ownership of, the Trust.
“Sponsor”—Grayscale Investments, LLC.
“Sponsor-paid Expenses”—The fees and expenses incurred by the Trust in the ordinary course of its affairs that the Sponsor is obligated to assume and pay, 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 Trust, (iv) the Transfer Agent fee, (v) the Trustee fee, (vi) 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, (vii) ordinary course, legal fees and expenses, (viii) audit fees, (ix) regulatory fees, including, if applicable, any fees relating to the registration of the Shares under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act, (x) printing and mailing costs, (xi) costs of maintaining the Trust’s website and (xii) applicable license fees, provided that any expense that qualifies as an Additional Trust Expense will be deemed to be an Additional Trust Expense and not a Sponsor-paid Expense.
“Sponsor’s Fee”—A fee, payable in XLM, which accrues daily in U.S. dollars at an annual rate of 2.5% of the Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount of the Trust as of 4:00 p.m., New York time, on each day; provided that for a day that is not a business day, the calculation of the Sponsor’s Fee will be based on the Digital Asset Holdings Fee Basis Amount from the most recent business day, reduced by the accrued and unpaid Sponsor’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.
“Stellar” or the “Stellar Network”—The online, end-user-to-end-user network hosting a public transaction ledger, known as the Blockchain, and the source code comprising the basis for the cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing the Stellar Network. See “Item 1. Business—Overview of the XLM Industry and Market” in our Annual Report.
“Transfer Agent”—Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, a Delaware corporation.
“Transfer Agent Fee”—Fee payable to the Transfer Agent for services it provides to the Trust, which the Sponsor will pay to the Transfer Agent as a Sponsor-paid Expense.
“Trust”—Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust (XLM), a Delaware statutory trust, formed on October 26, 2018 under the DSTA and pursuant to the Trust Agreement.
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“Trust Agreement”—The Amended and Restated Declaration of Trust and Trust Agreement between the Trustee and the Sponsor establishing and governing the operations of the Trust, as amended by Amendments No. 1 and No. 2 thereto and as the same may be amended from time to time.
“Trustee”—Delaware Trust Company (formerly known as CSC Trust Company of Delaware), a Delaware trust company, is the Delaware trustee of the Trust.
“U.S.”—United States.
“U.S. dollar” or “$”—United States dollar or dollars.
“XLM” or “Lumens”—Stellar Lumens tokens, which are a type of digital asset based on an open-source cryptographic protocol existing on the Stellar Network, comprising units that constitute the assets underlying the Trust’s Shares.
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