Notes

New Leadership at Grayscale as GBTC Fund Records Inflows
In a notable development, Grayscale Investments is experiencing a significant shift in leadership, with CEO Michael Sonnenshein stepping down. This news comes as a surprise, given the timing and circumstances surrounding it.

On May 20, the Wall Street Journal reported that seasoned financial strategist Peter Mintzberg, will assume the CEO role in August. Mintzberg is well-equipped for the role, having previously served as Goldman Sachs’s global head of strategy for the bank’s asset management operations. Following this shift, Grayscale has not yet responded to requests for commentary from crypto.news. This shift in leadership coincides with a notable reversal in trends for Grayscale’s GBTC fund, which experienced its first weekly net inflows in nearly 19 weeks. According to coinatory , GBTC recorded $31.6 million in net inflows between May 13 and May 17.

Although this movement is positive, it pales in comparison to the $17.6 billion in exits since January, following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approval of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs. The impact of these investor exits on Sonnenshein’s decision to resign remains unclear. However, it is known that Grayscale lost 50% of its assets under management within six months of GBTC’s transition from a trust to an exchange-traded fund.

In the previous week, spot Bitcoin ETFs reported a combined $950 million in net inflows, with 11 funds issued by firms including Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, Bitwise, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, Valkyrie, Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, and Hashdex, according to SoSoValue analytics. Greco highlighted that this renewed interest boosted Bitcoin’s price by 7% over the week, bringing it to around $66,300. This uptick follows five weeks of modest demand and low daily volatility for spot BTC ETFs.


The resurgence in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows, coupled with the price recovery of Bitcoin, has turned attention to spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs. The U.S. SEC is set to make decisions on filings from VanEck and ARK 21Shares on May 23 and May 24, respectively. According to Greco, market participants expect the SEC to delay approval for these products, despite having approved BTC ETFs in January. The SEC's concerns about the liquidity of ETH’s spot and futures markets and its classification as a security add to the skepticism about quick approval. If the filings are rejected, issuers may need to resubmit, potentially leading to approval in late 2024 or early 2025.

Conversely, the SEC might approve the 19b-4 filings, which propose rule changes, while delaying the S-1 registration statements required before publicly offering securities. For spot Ethereum ETFs to trade on U.S. national exchanges, both approvals are necessary. Greco noted that this delay could provide the SEC with time to further evaluate the Ethereum market and finalize its stance on ETH’s status as a security.

Coinatory's coverage of Grayscale's leadership transition provides valuable insights into market dynamics.

Homepage: https://coinatory.com/cryptocurrency-news/grayscale-ceo-resigns-as-spot-btc-etf-inflows-surge-19192/