Notes

Grayscale Undergoes Leadership Transition
Coinatory has shared that Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein has decided to resign amid significant withdrawals by investors from the firm’s flagship GBTC ETF . The Wall Street Journal disclosed on May 20 that Peter Mintzberg will take over as CEO in August. Mintzberg, an experienced figure in finance, brings decades of expertise, having previously served as the global head of strategy at Goldman Sachs.


Grayscale has remained silent on requests for remarks from crypto.news. This leadership change coincides with a notable reversal in trends for Grayscale’s GBTC fund, which saw its first weekly net inflows in nearly 19 weeks. According to crypto news , GBTC achieved $31.6 million in net inflows between May 13 and May 17.


Despite this positive development, these inflows are minimal compared to the approximately $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.


Spot Bitcoin ETFs Witness Substantial Inflows
Last week, spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively recorded $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.


Potential for Spot Ethereum ETF Approvals

Given the uptick in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and Bitcoin's price rebound, attention is turning 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. Greco suggested that market participants anticipate the SEC to delay approval for these products, despite having approved BTC ETFs in January.


Concerns about the liquidity of ETH’s spot and futures markets, along with its classification as a security by the SEC, contribute to skepticism regarding a swift approval. Should the filings be denied, issuers might have to resubmit, delaying potential approval to late 2024 or early 2025.


On the other hand, the SEC might authorize the 19b-4 filings, which suggest regulatory amendments , while delaying the S-1 registration statements required before marketing securities. Both approvals are necessary for spot Ethereum ETFs to trade on U.S. national exchanges. Greco noted that this delay could allow the SEC time to more thoroughly assess the Ethereum market and clarify its perspective on ETH’s status as a security.



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