Grayscale appoints Goldman Sachs exec as new CEO

Grayscale
Investments’
Michael
Sonnenshein
is
stepping
down
as
CEO
after
over
a
decade
of
working
with
the
crypto
asset
management
firm.
Grayscale
has
appointed
Peter
Mintzberg,
currently
the
global
head
of
strategy
for
asset
and
wealth
management
at
Goldman
Sachs
Asset
Management.

Prior
to
his
role
at
Goldman
Sachs,
Mintzberg
held
global
leadership
roles
in
Strategy,
Mergers
&
Acquisitions
and
Investor
Relations
at
BlackRock,
Invesco,
and
OppenheimerFunds.
Mintzberg
will
officially
begin
as
Grayscale’s
new
CEO
on
August
15.

According
to
the
Wall
Street
Journal,
Grayscale’s
board
and
parent
company,
Digital
Currency
Group,

began
searching
for
a
new
CEO
in
late
2023,
though
the
search
was
not
related
to
GBTC’s
performance
or
outflows.

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

Sonnenshein’s
tenure
as
CEO
of
Grayscale
Investments
marked
a
period
of
significant
growth
and
transformation
for
the
company.
Under
his
leadership,
Grayscale’s
assets
under
management
soared
from
a
modest
$60
million
to
$30
billion.

It
was
during
Sonnenshein’s
leadership
that
Grayscale
won
a
historic
legal
case
against
the
SEC,
paving
the
way
for
the
approval
of
a
spot
Bitcoin
ETF
earlier
in
January.

Sonnenshein
also
led
the
Grayscale
Bitcoin
Trust
to
accumulate
an
astonishing
624,000
BTC
before
successfully
guiding
the
trust
through
its
transition
to
a
spot
Bitcoin
ETF
in
January
2023.
However,
as
of
his
resignation,
the
trust’s
Bitcoin
holdings
have
declined
to
290,000
BTC.

Despite
this
reduction,
the
dollar
value
of
the
trust’s
assets
only
decreased
to
$9.6
billion,
largely
due
to
Bitcoin’s
price
surge
from
$46,000
to
$67,000
during
this
period.
The
decrease
in
Bitcoin
holdings
has
resulted
in
a
reduction
of
approximately
$144
million
per
year
in
management
fees
for
Grayscale,
which
charges
a
1.5%
fee
on
its
Bitcoin
ETF.

The
firm’s
current
assets
under
management
stands
at
around
$19.4
billion,
with
$290
million
in
revenue
from
annual
fees
expected.
Earlier
this
month,
the
firm
has

withdrawn
its
application
for
an
Ethereum
futures
ETF.