Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale Investments, has resigned amid significant investor departures from the firm’s GBTC ETF.
Peter Mintzberg, a financial veteran from Goldman Sachs, is set to take over as CEO in August.
The announcement comes as Grayscale’s GBTC fund experienced its first net inflows in 19 weeks, suggesting a potential reversal in investor sentiment.
Between May 13 and May 17, GBTC saw $31.6 million in net inflows, according to Matteo Greco, a research analyst at Fineqia International.
Despite this positive movement, the fund has faced approximately $17.6 billion in outflows since January when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.
The Wall Street Journal reported Sonnenshein’s resignation on May 20, but it remains unclear if the massive outflows directly influenced his decision.
Grayscale has not commented on the matter. The firm has seen a 50% reduction in assets under management within six months following GBTC’s conversion from a trust to an exchange-traded fund.
Last week’s inflows into GBTC were part of a broader trend, with a total of $950 million in net inflows into U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs.
This group includes funds from Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, and others, which buoyed Bitcoin’s price by 7%, closing around $66,300.
This renewed interest in Bitcoin ETFs comes as the SEC is poised to decide on spot Ethereum ETF filings from VanEck and ARK 21Shares.
Analysts like Greco predict that the SEC may delay approval of these products, given concerns over Ethereum’s market liquidity and its classification as a security.
If rejected, issuers might need to resubmit their filings, potentially delaying approval until late 2024 or early 2025.
In the interim, the SEC could approve 19b-4 filings for rule changes while delaying S-1 approvals required for public trading.
This approach would allow the SEC to further evaluate Ethereum’s market and regulatory status before making a final decision.