Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein Steps Down, to Be Replaced by TradFi Veteran

Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of digital asset investment firm Grayscale, has stepped down after 10 years to be replaced by a veteran from the world of traditional finance (TradFi) world just months after the company’s flagship Bitcoin Trust became an exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Sonnenshein, who became CEO in 2021, will be replaced by Peter Mintzberg, head of strategy for asset and wealth management at Goldman Sachs on Aug. 15, Grayscale said on Monday. Mintzberg has more than 20 years of experience in TradFi, having previously worked at BlackRock, OppenheimerFunds and Invesco. CFO Edward McGee will lead the company on an interim basis until Mintzberg fills the role.

“Michael guided the firm through exponential growth & oversaw its pivotal role in bringing spot bitcoin ETFs to market, leading the way for the broader financial industry,” Barry Silbert, CEO of Grayscale’s parent company Digital Currency Group, wrote on X.

In January, Grayscale was one of about a dozen firms to finally have a spot bitcoin ETF approved to list in the U.S. in January. The firm had taken the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to court over the regulator’s repeated refusal to allow it to convert its Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), then a closed-end fund, into an ETF.

GBTC saw around $15 billion of outflows in the following three months as the firm kept fees higher than its competitors.

Read More: Grayscale CEO Says Bitcoin ETF Outflows Are Reaching Equilibrium: Reuters

UPDATE (May 20, 14:27 UTC): Adds additional background on Grayscale’s legal action against the SEC and GBTC’s outflows since approval.

UPDATE (May 20, 14:38 UTC): Replaces second bullet point.