Digital Currency Group manages the publicly traded Bitcoin Investment Trust (Symbol: GBTC) – were combined with seed investments founder Barry Silbert had made in the bitcoin and blockchain space. In 2016 DCG partnered with Amazon Web Services to create a laboratory environment allowing companies to experiment with blockchain technologies. Established in 2013, Grayscale is a digital currency investing firm. It manages the Bitcoin Investment Trust (BIT), provides titled, auditable bitcoin exposure through a traditional investment vehicle. BIT shares are the first publicly quoted securities solely invested in, and deriving value from, the price of bitcoin. The Trust trades under symbol: GBTC on the
Virtual currency and (2) that persons may obtain by their own computing or manufacturing effort". Rather than relying on confidence in a central authority, it depends instead on a distributed system of trust. Digital currency is a particular form of currency that is electronically transferred and stored, i.e., distinct from physical currency, such as coins or banknotes. According to the European Central Bank, virtual currencies are "generally digital", although their enduring precursor, the coupon, for example, is physical. A cryptocurrency is a digital currency using cryptography to secure transactions and to control the creation of new currency units. Since not all virtual