Grayscale Expands Watchlist to 36 Tokens

Grayscale has updated its Assets Under Consideration watchlist to include 36 tokens, indicating an ongoing effort to broaden its offerings beyond established assets like Bitcoin BTC $63,684.05 1.62% Bitcoin BTC Price $63,684.05 1.62% /24h Volume in 24h $33.41B Price 7d Learn more and Ethereum ETH $1,689.89 3.68% Ethereum ETH Price $1,689.89 3.68% /24h Volume in 24h $13.09B Price 7d Learn more . This expansion reflects a strategic focus on diverse blockchain sectors, providing regulated vehicles for investors interested in emerging protocols.

This curated selection serves as a guide for potential areas of institutional interest in the crypto space. It outlines pathways for capital allocation into protocols that support various use cases, from smart contracts to AI integrations.

A broader narrative emerges from this update, highlighting how large-scale investors have shifted their perspective on digital assets. Rather than debating inclusion in diversified holdings, the focus now centres on identifying the next layers of the ecosystem to incorporate.

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Grayscale Expands Q1 2026 Watchlist: New Tokens Across AI, Utility, and Smart Contract Sectors

If you are not familiar with Grayscale, it’s an entity that operates a range of crypto trusts and ETFs, functioning as accessible wrappers that allow exposure to digital assets without the need for direct management of keys or wallets. These products simplify participation for those preferring traditional investment formats.

On a quarterly basis, Grayscale shares its watchlist of tokens under evaluation for potential product integration. For Q1 2026, the list has grown from 32 to 36 assets, incorporating new entries across multiple categories.

Additions include Tron (TRX) in smart contract platforms, ARIA Protocol (ARIAIP) in consumer and culture, Nous Research and Poseidon in artificial intelligence, and DoubleZero (2Z) in utilities and services.

Grayscale followed this path before with Dogecoin and Pyth. The Dogecoin trust, launched in early 2025, represented an expansion into assets with strong community-driven utility and payment potential. Similarly, the Pyth trust, introduced in February 2025, provides exposure to a key oracle network within the Solana ecosystem, enabling real-time data feeds for decentralised applications.

(Source: Grayscale Blog)

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Institutional Demand Pushes Beyond Bitcoin – Boost Incoming For Other Altcoins?

Bitcoin and Ethereum still anchor institutional portfolios. But growth-focused capital looks elsewhere. That explains why smart contract platforms, financial tokens, and infrastructure projects dominate Grayscale’s list.

TRON TRX $0.3268 0.46% TRON TRX Price $0.3268 0.46% /24h Volume in 24h $539.46M Price 7d Learn more stands out for one simple reason: it moves a large share of stablecoin transactions. Stablecoins function as reliable digital representations of fiat currencies, supporting activities in trading, remittances, and decentralised finance protocols. Institutional participants prioritize robust underlying systems that enable efficient operations across the blockchain landscape.

(Source: DefiLlama)

This development aligns with observed patterns in institutional engagement, where emphasis is placed on core infrastructure and practical applications. Reports indicate that by 2026, a majority of institutions plan to increase allocations to digital assets, with average exposures expected to grow substantially.

This includes expansions into tokenization of real-world assets and stablecoin integrations, fostering deeper connections between traditional finance and blockchain technologies

Grayscale already filed statutory trusts for BNB and Hyperliquid in Delaware. This is a legal step, not a product launch. But it opens the door to future ETFs. Pension funds and advisors can buy ETFs. They cannot buy tokens directly. That difference changes liquidity and visibility.

We saw this effect with Ethereum. Products like Grayscale’s Ethereum ETF expanded access without asking investors to manage crypto tools.

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