Grayscale CEO Resigns as Spot BTC ETF Inflows Surge

Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein has stepped down from his position amid significant investor withdrawals from the firm’s GBTC ETF.

On May 20, the Wall Street Journal reported that Peter Mintzberg will assume the role of CEO in August. Mintzberg, a financial industry veteran, brings decades of experience, having previously served as Goldman Sachs’s global head of strategy for the bank’s asset management operations.

Grayscale has not yet responded to requests for commentary from crypto.news.

This leadership change 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 Fineqia International research analyst Matteo Greco, GBTC recorded $31.6 million in net inflows between May 13 and May 17.

Despite this positive movement, 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 Attract Significant Inflows

Last week, spot Bitcoin ETFs collectively saw $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

With the resurgence in spot Bitcoin ETF inflows and the subsequent price recovery of Bitcoin, 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. 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. Both approvals are necessary for spot Ethereum ETFs to trade on U.S. national exchanges. 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.

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