Barry Silbert returns to Grayscale as chairman as the firm prepares to go public

Grayscale Investments has appointed four new senior executives and brought back founder Barry Silbert as board chairman, following its confidential initial public offering filing last month.

The four new hires include Diana Zhang as chief operating officer, Ramona Boston as chief marketing officer, Andrea Williams as chief communications officer, and Maxwell Rosenthal as chief human resources officer. All four report to Grayscale CEO Peter Mintzberg and bring experience from major traditional finance firms, including Bridgewater Associates, Apollo Global Management, Goldman Sachs, and Citadel.

Zhang was recently COO at BlockTower Capital and formerly served as deputy to the co-CEO at Bridgewater. Boston led client marketing at Apollo, Williams built out communications at Oaktree and later led media relations for Goldman Sachs, and Rosenthal was head of people for global credit at Citadel.

Silbert, who founded Grayscale in 2013, replaces Mark Shifke as chairman. Shifke will remain on the board, which now has five members. The company said it is also considering adding independent directors.

Silbert resigned as Grayscale chairman at the end of 2023, just weeks before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Jan. 10, 2024, deadline to rule on multiple spot bitcoin ETF applications — including Grayscale’s GBTC conversion. His departure coincided with broader scrutiny of Digital Currency Group (DCG), Grayscale’s parent company, which faced lawsuits from the New York Attorney General over the collapse of its lending arm, Genesis, and allegations tied to the Gemini Earn program. Silbert was personally named in the NYAG complaint.

"I'm honored to rejoin the Grayscale board at a defining moment for both the company and the broader digital asset ecosystem," Silbert said. "I continue to have deep conviction in the company’s long-term positioning and in the leadership team guiding it forward."

Grayscale offers more than three dozen products, including spot bitcoin and ethereum ETFs, and diversified crypto funds, and currently manages more than $35 billion in assets under management.