Barry Silbert Steps Down from Grayscale Board Just Ahead of Crucial Bitcoin ETF Ruling

10 months ago 5

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Grayscale Investments, sponsor of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), has announced the departures of executives Barry Silbert and Mark Murphy from the board of directors.

This development comes just days before the eagerly anticipated January 10 deadline for the US SEC decision on spot Bitcoin ETFs, in which Grayscale is in the running for.

Barry Silbert’s Replacement will Step in First Day of 2024

In a recent filing to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Grayscale has revealed that its two executives Barry Silbert and Mark Murphy will be stepping down from the board.

Silbert previously held the position of chairman of the board. It notes that Mark Shifke will take over his position from January 1, 2024.

Grayscale Pushing for First Round Approval of Bitcoin ETF

On December 20, BeInCrypto reported that Grayscale chief executive Michael Sonnenshein believes the GBTC investors of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would be hugely disadvantaged if the SEC doesn’t allow it to convert the fund to a spot ETF at the same time as others are approved.

“I think that the SEC should and does, in fact, want to create an even playing field,” he said.

Thirteen companies are in the running for a spot Bitcoin ETF approval. These include major asset management firms BlackRock and Fidelity.

Meanwhile, Grayscale is attempting to get its existing GBTC trust converted to a spot fund.

However, Sonnenshein believes it should all happen simultaneously to prevent one company from gaining advantage over the other applicants:

“We’ve publicly been advocates of the fact that when the commission is ready to give the requisite approvals for spot products to come to market, that it should be done all at once — the issuers who are operationally ready to launch their products should come out the gate all at once.”