Grayscale's Sonnenshein Addresses GBTC's Collapsing Premium

Sonnenshein thinks U.S. regulators aren't ready to approve a bitcoin ETF yet.

Mar 23, 2021 at 2:51 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 12:30 p.m. UTC

2019-11-12 09.58.22 — Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein

Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said the crypto asset management company is taking a wait-and-see approach to filing for a bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF).

On CoinDesk TV Tuesday morning, the CEO, who took over Grayscale – owned by CoinDesk parent Digital Currency Group – in January, suggested U.S. regulators still aren’t ready to approve a bitcoin ETF, even though Grayscale is preparing for such an eventuality.
A bitcoin ETF would likely oust Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) product from its dominant position by offering investors far lower fees and nixing the fund’s premium/discount discrepancies, negatives that have spooked some advisories from touching GBTC.
Rebuffing assertions that an armada of recent bitcoin fund products could challenge GBTC with more competitive fee structures, Sonnenshein said the trust’s 2% annual fee would remain.
He notched Grayscale’s collapsing premium to the forces of supply and demand. “There have been so many shares created that that has put some selling pressure on the stock itself, but ultimately [I] do not foresee this as a product issue.," he said.
Institutional investors continue to line up, he said, predicting the market remains in the “early days” of a corporate bitcoin adoption trend that may accelerate through 2021.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.