Barry Silbert Steps Down as Grayscale Chairman: A First Mover Update

• Grayscale Investments Announces Leadership Changes
• SEC Delays on ETF Applications
• Trading Losses Amid Market Decline
• South Korea Increases Crypto Transparency
• Chart of The Day

Grayscale Investments Announces Leadership Changes

The Bitcoin$42,260 -0.64% Trust (GBTC) of Grayscale Investments, currently under consideration by the Securities and Exchange Commission for conversion into a U.S. spot exchange-traded fund (ETF), has announced a change in leadership. Mark Shifke, Chief Financial Officer of Grayscale's parent company DCG, will take over from Barry Silbert as Chairman from January 1, according to an SEC filing by Grayscale. The filing did not cite any reason for this change. Mark Murphy, DCG's president, has also resigned from the board.

SEC Delays on ETF Applications

Several ETF applications, including those from Grayscale, BlackRock, Ark 21shares, Vaneck, and Hashdex, are yet to get approval from the SEC. Many applicants have held discussions with the regulator and submitted updated documentation as the year-end approaches. The SEC is obliged to approve or reject the Ark 21Shares application by January 10, which is the first deadline to approach.

Trading Losses Amid Market Decline

A recent market-wide downturn, inflamed by high funding rates, relatively low liquidity, and reports of the Mt. Gox crypto exchange beginning repayments to 2014 hack victims, has resulted in losses for bullish traders. Those predicting higher prices lost over $190 million to liquidations as Bitcoin (BTC) fell by up to 4% before regaining some losses early Wednesday. Altcoin-tracked futures accounted for some $45 million of these losses, in a notable shift. Bitcoin liquidations were a smaller $36 million. Data from Coinglass shows that traders of Solana$104 5.03%'s SOL tokens and Bitcoin protocol Ordinals (ORDI) suffered nearly $20 million and $8 million in losses, respectively. Crypto exchange Binance had the highest liquidations among counterparts, at over $97 million.

South Korea Increases Crypto Transparency

A new legislative mandate in South Korea will make the crypto and other asset holdings of about 5,800 public officials accessible to the public. The Ethics Policy Division of South Korea announced on Wednesday that an integrated asset disclosure service will be launched for public officials starting next year. As of now, asset disclosures are published in official gazettes, but under the new legislation, they will be available through the Public Official Ethics System (PETI). This follows laws passed in May requiring public officials to disclose their crypto holdings, in the wake of a scandal involving a lawmaker.

Chart of The Day

The chart displays the seven-day moving average of transaction fees paid on the Bitcoin blockchain since January. According to Glassnode, the average rose to 445.59 BTC on Dec. 20, the highest point since 2018. This surge is attributed to the increasing popularity of Ordinals, causing blockchain congestion and elevating fees.

Edited by Jonathan Stoker