Grayscale, a leading cryptocurrency asset manager, has hired former Alerian CEO David LaValle to lead its effort to convert its Bitcoin trust into an exchange-traded fund.
Prior to founding Alerian, LaValle held senior positions at Nasdaq and State Street. He was in charge of Nasdaq’s ETF markets. LaValle has been a part of the ETF industry since his career began on the American Stock Exchange, which is now known as the NYSE American.
Grayscale confirmed its plan to convert its crown jewel into an ETF in early April, putting pressure on a number of other key players such as Fidelity, VanEck, and SkyBridge. They are all vying for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of their filings. As of Aug. 3, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust managed $25 billion in assets. Michael Sonnenshein, the company’s CEO, recently stated that the company is “100 percent committed” to convert the trust into an ETF:
“I think in our seat, from our view of the world, we’re really looking for a couple of different points of maturation in the underlying market, and that’s really the final stages of what we think regulators need to approve those types of products and give investors the protections that they’re looking for.”
LaValle is adamant about transforming Grayscale into a “world-class” exchange-traded fund issuer:
“We’re focused on creating a number of products to be a world-class ETF issuer. We’re in a unique position. We actually have a product in the marketplace, so it puts us in a great spot.”
Gensler recently stated, as reported by U.Today, that he was “looking forward” to his staff reviewing Bitcoin ETF filings. Since early March, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares have been trading at a discount to their net asset value (NAV). GBTC is currently trading at 11.86 percent of the value of the underlying Bitcoin held in the trust, according to data provided by YCharts. The switch to an ETF has emerged as a viable option for dealing with a persistent discount. According to LaValle, the discount will almost certainly “collapse” following the conversion.
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