Michael Sonnenshein

Michael Sonnenshein is the chief operating officer of Securitize, the real-world asset tokenization platform behind products such as BlackRock's BUIDL fund, a role he took in December 2024. He is best known for his decade at Grayscale Investments, which he joined in 2014 as one of its earliest employees and led as CEO from 2021 to 2024, growing it into the world's largest crypto asset manager. Under his leadership Grayscale sued the SEC over its refusal to convert the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust into an ETF, winning a landmark D.C. Circuit ruling in August 2023 that paved the way for the first US spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024. Between the two roles he advised fintech and blockchain firms including Aptos Labs.

7 talks by Michael Sonnenshein