Grayscale CEO Files to Sell Entire Pre-Conversion XRP Trust Stake as Fund Shrinks 51%

What Happened

Peter Mintzberg, CEO of Grayscale Investments, filed a Form 144 notice with the SEC on July 28, 2026, signaling his intent to sell 2,611 shares of the Grayscale XRP Trust (GXRP). The filing represents the entirety of his position in the fund, which he acquired through a private transaction directly with the issuer on October 3, 2024.

The notice values the transaction at $53,394.95 in aggregate, pricing each share at $20.45. Cantor Fitzgerald is listed as the broker handling the sale, with NYSE Arca designated as the trading venue. Importantly, a Form 144 filing indicates an intention to sell restricted securities but does not confirm that the transaction has been completed.

Mintzberg reported no prior sales of GXRP in the three months preceding the filing, and the shares were purchased with cash rather than acquired through equity compensation or other non-cash arrangements.

The Insider Transaction Pattern

Mintzberg is the third Grayscale insider to file a Form 144 on GXRP shares, following two January 2026 filings from other senior executives. The pattern reveals a coordinated acquisition window in late 2024, when the fund still operated as a private placement vehicle for accredited investors.

Timeline of Insider Acquisitions

All three insiders completed their purchases between September 14 and October 31, 2024. Mintzberg had assumed the CEO role on August 15, 2024, making his October 3 purchase a move executed just seven weeks into his tenure at the firm. He joined from Goldman Sachs, bringing traditional finance credentials to Grayscale's leadership.

Barry Silbert, founder of Grayscale's parent company Digital Currency Group, held his shares through a Roth IRA and executed the transaction via Capital Institutional Services. His filing listed OTCQX as the trading venue. Craig Salm, Grayscale's top legal executive, routed his sale through Canaccord Genuity and, like Mintzberg, designated NYSE Arca as the venue.

The Numbers Behind the Sale

The drop from roughly $37 per share in January to $20.45 in July represents a sharp contraction in the fund's implied per-share value over a six-month span. This decline occurred as the broader XRP market experienced significant volatility and as the newly converted ETF faced competitive pressure from rival products.

Trust Float Collapses by Half

Beyond individual insider transactions, the most striking change in GXRP's structure is the dramatic reduction in outstanding shares. The January filings from Silbert and Salm both listed 5,790,100 shares outstanding. Mintzberg's July filing shows just 2,840,100 shares—a reduction of 2,950,000 shares, or 51%.

At the current $20.45 price per share, the remaining share count values the entire trust near $58 million in assets under management. This positions GXRP well behind category leaders: Bitwise's XRP ETF holds close to $500 million, while Canary's XRPC fund manages just under $470 million.

The fund's history as a private placement vehicle provides context for this contraction. By its first anniversary in September 2025, the trust held close to $17 million across 301,500 shares, servicing accredited investors exclusively. Grayscale converted the trust to a publicly traded ETF and uplisted it to NYSE Arca on November 24, 2025—eleven days after the first U.S. spot XRP ETF launched on Nasdaq on November 13, 2025.

The sharp reduction in outstanding shares since the ETF conversion suggests either significant redemptions, share buybacks, or structural adjustments related to the transition from private to public markets.

Market Context and XRP Price Action

The insider filings and fund contraction occurred against a backdrop of extreme volatility in XRP itself. As of July 30, 2026, XRP traded at $1.07, representing a 70.5% decline from its recent high of $3.65 set on July 17, 2025.

Across the broader category of U.S. spot XRP ETFs, flows have largely stagnated. According to the source data, seven of the ten business days leading up to July 19, 2026 recorded zero net flows across all XRP funds. Since launch, the category has attracted close to $1.5 billion in cumulative inflows, but momentum appears to have slowed considerably.

Why It Matters

What's Next

The filing of a Form 144 does not guarantee that a sale will occur, nor does it specify the exact timing if it does. Mintzberg's notice establishes intent and regulatory compliance, but market conditions, company policies, or strategic considerations could delay or prevent execution.

Investors watching GXRP should monitor whether:

• Mintzberg completes the sale and whether additional insider filings follow
• The fund's outstanding share count continues to contract or stabilizes
• XRP ETF flows resume or remain muted in the coming months
• GXRP's management announces structural changes, fee adjustments, or marketing initiatives to compete with larger rivals
• XRP's price action influences redemption behavior and fund performance

Given the fund's current trajectory, Grayscale faces pressure to demonstrate value to shareholders and differentiate GXRP in a crowded field. The firm's track record with GBTC and ETHE conversions shows it can navigate complex transitions, but those products lacked direct competition at launch.

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