Actual-world asset tokenization agency Securitize appointed Michael Sonnenshein, previously CEO of asset administration firm Grayscale Investments, as chief working officer.
“There may be large demand for tokenization, and I’m thrilled to affix Securitize at such a pivotal second for the corporate and the business,” Sonnenshein mentioned in a Thursday assertion. His appointment began on Dec. 9.
Tokenization is a booming sector on the intersection of digital belongings and conventional finance. The method includes representing monetary devices like bonds, credit score, commodities and different real-world belongings on the blockchain in pursuit of operational effectivity, speedier settlements and cheaper transactions.
Securitize is a key service supplier and market within the discipline, with over $1 billion value of tokenized devices on its platform. The corporate collectively manages asset administration behemoth BlackRock’s tokenized cash market fund BUIDL. BlackRock additionally invested in Securitize.
“Michael is a trailblazer whose strategic imaginative and prescient and talent to navigate complicated regulatory landscapes have helped pave the way in which for establishing digital belongings as a mainstream funding class,” Carlos Domingo, CEO and co-founder of Securitize, mentioned in a press release.
Sonnenshein’s appointment adopted his departure earlier this yr from Grayscale, the place he had served as CEO since 2021. Throughout his tenure, the corporate was one of many companies to have a spot-based bitcoin ETF authorised to checklist within the U.S. in January. Grayscale had taken the Securities and Change Fee (SEC) to courtroom over the regulator’s repeated refusal to permit it to transform its flagship, closed-end fund Bitcoin Belief (GBTC), then a closed-end fund, into an ETF.
Sonnenshein additionally joined Aptos Labs, developer group of layer-1 blockchain Aptos (APT), as an adviser final month.