Grayscale Brings BNB Into a U.S. Institutional ETF, Drops Cardano

Grayscale Investments has officially added Binance Coin (BNB) to the Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF, replacing Cardano (ADA) as part of its scheduled quarterly rebalancing. The change aligns the fund with the CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index and became effective on February 2, 2026.

What matters in this rebalance is not just which asset entered or exited, but what standard was enforced to make that decision. The shift reflects how index-driven capital reallocates when liquidity and market structure, rather than narrative strength, determine eligibility.

This marks the first inclusion of BNB in the GDLC portfolio, giving the asset direct institutional exposure through a U.S.-listed ETF structure.

Portfolio Realignment After the Rebalance

Following the rebalance, GDLC’s allocation remains heavily concentrated in Bitcoin, with smaller weightings distributed across large-cap altcoins that meet the index’s liquidity and capitalization thresholds.

Updated GDLC Portfolio Weights (February 2026):

• Bitcoin (BTC): 74.21%
• Ethereum (ETH): 13.34%
• Binance Coin (BNB): 4.97%
• XRP: 4.68%
• Solana (SOL): 2.80%

Cardano (ADA) was fully removed from the basket, reflecting a failure to meet updated index requirements rather than an active discretionary call by the fund manager.

Why BNB Entered and ADA Didn’t

The CoinDesk Large Cap Select Index follows a rules-based methodology, prioritizing market capitalization, sustained liquidity, and verifiable price discovery over ecosystem narratives or community metrics. BNB’s inclusion signals that, under these criteria, it now qualifies as a large-cap asset suitable for regulated fund exposure.

For GDLC, this is structurally significant. The ETF becomes the first major U.S. investment vehicle to offer institutional exposure to BNB, an asset that previously lacked broad access through U.S.-compliant fund products.

Conversely, ADA’s removal highlights the mechanical nature of index tracking. Assets that fall short on liquidity or trading depth are excluded automatically, regardless of long-term development roadmaps or retail interest.

Index Infrastructure Changes Add Context

The rebalance coincided with updates on the pricing side of the index. CoinDesk Indices added Binance, Gate, and HashKey as constituent trading platforms used for price calculations, while Bitfinex was removed.

These adjustments affect how reference prices are formed and reinforce the index’s focus on venues deemed representative for institutional-grade price discovery.

Structural Takeaway

BNB’s entry into GDLC is less about endorsement and more about qualification. Inclusion signals that the asset now meets the liquidity, scale, and infrastructure standards required by U.S. index-linked products. ADA’s removal underscores the inverse reality: index exposure is conditional, not permanent.

For institutional allocators tracking benchmark-driven products, the rebalance reinforces a clear message. In regulated markets, structure dictates exposure, and assets remain in portfolios only as long as they continue to satisfy objective market criteria.

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