Company: GBTC
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000950170-25-029408
Chunk: 69

Company: Grayscale Bitcoin Trust ETF
Filing Date: 2025-02-28
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 1A
Chunk 69
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 risk that a single mining pool or small group of mining pools, for example could exert authority over the validation of Bitcoin transactions, and this risk is heightened if over 50% of the processing power on the network falls within the jurisdiction of a single governmental authority and is significantly heightened if over 66% falls within such a jurisdiction. If network participants, including the core developers and the administrators of mining pools, do not act to ensure greater decentralization of Bitcoin mining processing power, the feasibility of a malicious actor obtaining control of the processing power on the Bitcoin Network will increase, which may adversely affect the value of the Shares. 

There are also concerns that blockchain “bloat” could also contribute to the conditions leading to a 51% attack. As the size of a blockchain grows larger, it requires higher amounts of resources to initially synchronize and validate the entire blockchain. If some potential miners are excluded because these costs become prohibitive, Bitcoin processing power may become more concentrated in a smaller number of parties, increasing the feasibility of a malicious actor to obtain control of the processing power on the Bitcoin Network, which may adversely affect the value of the Shares. 

A malicious actor may also obtain control over the Bitcoin Network through its influence over core developers by gaining direct control over a core developer or an otherwise influential programmer. The less that the Bitcoin ecosystem grows, the greater the possibility that a malicious actor may be able to maliciously influence the Bitcoin Network in this manner. Moreover, it is possible that a group of Bitcoin holders that together control more than 50% of outstanding Bitcoin are in fact part of the initial or current core 

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developer group, or are otherwise influential members of the Bitcoin community. To the extent that the initial or current core developer groups also control more than 50% of outstanding Bitcoin, as some believe, the risk of this particular group of users causing the Bitcoin Network to adopt updates to the core protocol that this particular group wants to be implemented will be even greater, and should this materialize, it may adversely affect the value of the Shares.

A temporary or permanent “fork” or a “clone” could adversely affect the value of the Shares. 

The Bitcoin Network operates using open-source protocols, meaning that any user can download the software, modify it and then propose that the users and miners of Bitcoin adopt the modification. When a modification is introduced and a substantial majority of users and miners’ consent to the modification, the change is implemented and the network remains uninterrupted. However, if less than a substantial majority of users and miners’ consent