Crypto Firm Grayscale Turns to Wall Street for New CEO

Since converting into an ETF in January, GBTC has bled more than $17.6 billion.

The other ten U.S. spot-Bitcoin funds have all had positive inflows this year, with BlackRock’s $15.6 billion haul leading the way. GBTC charges a 1.5% expense ratio, while other funds charge a fraction of that.

Sonnenshein said in an interview with Bloomberg TV in January that GBTC’s relatively high fee is justified by “the size, the liquidity, and the track record” of the company.

“As an investor, when you are choosing amongst these products, fees are a consideration, the asset manager, the issuer behind it are a consideration, but so should be size, liquidity and that track record,” Sonnenshein said at the time.

The SEC rejected Grayscale’s proposal to convert GBTC in 2022, arguing that an ETF based on Bitcoin lacked adequate oversight to detect fraud. Grayscale sued to overturn the decision, accusing the SEC of discriminating against its product, while approving similar Bitcoin-futures ETFs.

Grayscale’s board and parent company, Digital Currency Group, began searching for a new CEO in late 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the matter. The search was not related to GBTC’s performance or outflows, the report said.

“The crypto asset class is at an important inflection point and this is the right moment for a smooth transition,” Sonnenshein said in a press release.

(Credit: Bloomberg)