Crypto Investment Firm Grayscale Names New CEO, Plans to Double Staff in 2021

Jan 7, 2021 at 4:07 p.m. UTCUpdated Jan 7, 2021 at 4:11 p.m. UTC

Grayscale’s Michael Sonnenshein speaks at Invest: NYC 2019.

(CoinDesk archives)

Digital asset manager Grayscale Investments has named Michael Sonnenshein, currently the firm’s managing director, as CEO.

Sonnenshein has been with Grayscale for seven years and will now take over the CEO role from Grayscale’s founder, Barry Silbert, according to an announcement Thursday.
Prior to his time at Grayscale, Sonnenshein held roles at JPMorgan, Barclays, and Bank of America.
Grayscale’s AUM has grown from $2 billion at the start of 2020 to over $20 billion today – making it one of the fastest-growing asset managers of all time, said Silbert.
Silbert will continue as CEO of Grayscale’s parent company, Digital Currency Group. CoinDesk is also a subsidiary of DCG.
As CEO, Sonnenshein is expected to guide Grayscale’s strategic direction and help scale the business.
As part of that effort, the company expects to double its staff in 2021, as well as roll out new investment products.