Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency-trust manager vying for US approval to convert the world’s biggest Bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund, said Barry Silbert has resigned as its chairman. Silbert is chief executive and founder of Grayscale parent Digital Currency Group, the sprawling crypto conglomerate that is embroiled in several ongoing disputes in the wake of the 2022 industry meltdown. DCG is the subject of lawsuits by US regulators over a lending program by its former unit Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust Co., the crypto exchange founded by the billionaire Winklevoss brothers, that froze customer assets last year.
Silbert, 47, will be succeeded by Mark Shifke, the chief financial officer of DCG. Mark Murphy, the president of DCG, has also resigned from the Grayscale board. Grayscale didn’t cite a reason for the board changes, which are effective Jan. 1, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The board shakeup comes ahead of a Jan. 10 deadline for the SEC to decide whether to green-light a spot Bitcoin ETF application filed by Cathie Wood’s ARK Investment Management LLC and 21Shares. The regulator could at that time also rule on other similar filings, including Grayscale’s GBTC conversion application.
In October, DCG and Gemini Trust were sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for allegedly failing to disclose to investors the risks of a crypto-lending program they started in 2021. Silbert was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. At the time, DCG said that the company will fight the state’s allegations and that “there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by DCG, Barry Silbert, or its employees.” The SEC also sued Genesis Global Capital and Gemini earlier this year, alleging that their lending program Gemini Earn amounted to the offering of unregistered securities. DCG and Silbert have also faced legal woes from their one-time partner Gemini, which sued to seek recovery of “damages and losses” from alleged “fraud and deception” related to Gemini Earn.
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