Michael Sonnenshein is stepping down from his position as CEO of Grayscale Investments LLC.
Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of Digital Currency Group, Grayscale’s parent company, said Sonnenschein will be succeeded by a former Goldman Sachs employee on Aug. 15. Executive Peter Mintzberg will assume the position.
Silbert I have written X Posted on May 20th:
“As we position Grayscale for its next phase of growth, I am excited to welcome Peter Mintzberg as Grayscale’s CEO, effective August 15th. Peter joins from Goldman Sachs with more than 20 years of experience at prominent asset management firms including BlackRock, OppenheimerFunds and Invesco.”
Founded in 2013, Grayscale is one of the world’s most prominent crypto asset management companies, managing over $50 billion in assets as of September 2021.
During his 10 years as CEO, Sonnenschein played a pivotal role in launching the first Spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S., Silbert wrote. .
“Michael grew the company exponentially, oversaw a pivotal role in bringing the Spot Bitcoin ETF to market, and led the way into the broader financial industry. We look forward to his future work. I wish you all the best.”
Grayscale was one of the first spot Bitcoin ETF issuers in the US. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) was converted into an ETF on January 11th, but the fund had been in operation since 2013. This makes the fund the first publicly traded Bitcoin fund. grayscale.
Grayscale’s GBTC is the largest ETF with on-chain Bitcoin investments, currently holding over 287,801 BTC (valued at $19.3 billion) and holding a market share of 34.9%. However, Grayscale also requires investors to pay the highest fees (1.5% compared to the industry standard of 0.20% to 0.25%).
By comparison, BlackRock’s iShares ETF is the second largest holding over 274,000 BTC, valued at $18.4 billion, and has a 33.3% market share. dunes.
Related: Bitcoin rally above $675,000 could trigger new record high, according to 10x Research
Bitcoin ETFs are “orange poker chips” that could negatively impact on-chain Bitcoin adoption
Despite promising to draw more baby boomers into Bitcoin, spot Bitcoin ETFs cannibalize on-chain liquidity, according to Jim Bianco, founder of macro research firm Bianco Research. It is said that there is a possibility.bianco I have written X A post from May 19th says:
“Bringing off-chain funds into the world of Tradfi in the form of orange FOMO poker chips will not deliver digital assets to the promised land of a new decentralized financial system. In fact, it will stand in the way of this goal. ”
If ETFs continue to siphon on-chain liquidity into the world of traditional finance (TradFi), it could cast doubt on Bitcoin’s narrative as a decentralized alternative to traditional financial systems, Bianco said. To tell.
“If the goal is to develop a new financial system, then ETFs pulling funds back into the Tradfi world will not get you to that promised land.”
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