Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein departs company
The Wall Street Journal first reported the news Monday, saying that Grayscale will bring in a Goldman Sachs alum as the new CEO in August. A Grayscale spokesperson confirmed the news when reached.
“Peter is an exceptional strategic leader with global expertise across the most prominent asset managers, which are critical ingredients as we position Grayscale for its next phase of growth,” Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert said in a statement .
Peter Mintzberg served as the head of strategy for the asset management division at Goldman and also worked at BlackRock and Invesco.
In a post on X, Sonnenshein said that he leaves Grayscale with “a deep gratitude” and said he’s “excited for what’s next.” Though it’s unclear what’s in store for the former executive at this stage.
I leave @Grayscale with deep gratitude for everyone who has been on this incredible rocket ship journey. @BarrySilbert , thank you for taking a bet on me and for your partnership these last 10 years. To the Grayscale Leadership Team – thank you for your dedication, loyalty, and… — Sonnenshein (@Sonnenshein) May 20, 2024
The change comes the same week as an expected decision on the ether ETF application. Grayscale filed to convert its ether trust into an ETF last year.
Analysts expect the SEC to deny the ether ETFs later this week. Grayscale withdrew its ether futures ET application earlier this month.
During a Financial Times event earlier this month, Sonnenshein reportedly said that the firm wants to focus on its spot products.
Read more: Grayscale’s planned GBTC sibling is a page from BlackRock’s playbook
The exit also comes as Grayscale’s bitcoin ETF continues to see outflows. GBTC has the highest fee of the slate of spot bitcoin ETFs approved in January, at 1.5%. BlackRock, which still has a waiver on its fund, has seen significant success in the same period of time.
However, the firm notched inflows of $18 million last week, according to a CoinShares report from Monday morning.
This is a developing story.
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