Barry Silbert, Mark Murphy to exit Grayscale board

Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert has resigned as Grayscale’s chair, according to a Tuesday filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. 

DCG President Mark Murphy will also be leaving the board. Both resignations are effective Jan. 1, 2024. 

DCG Chief Financial Officer Mark Shifke will replace Silbert as chair, the filing noted. Senior vice president of operations at DCG Matt Kummell, and Edward McGee, who serves on the audit committee, will also be joining the board. 

The departures come as DCG, Grayscale’s parent company, battles a lawsuit brought on by New York Attorney General Letitia James earlier this year. James’ office alleges DCG and its subsidiary Genesis concealed $1.1 billion in losses from investors. 

DCG in October said it had “cooperated for months” with New York regulators as James’ office investigated. 

“We were blindsided by the filing of the complaint, and there is no evidence of any wrongdoing by DCG , [CEO] Barry Silbert, or our employees, nor are there any compelling factual allegations in the complaint to establish the AG’s conclusory assertions regarding DCG,” the company wrote in a letter shared with Blockworks.  

The news also follows the court ruling that DCG is prohibited from selling or reducing ownership of Genesis until bankruptcy proceedings conclude. 

Genesis filed the motion back in late November, arguing that DCG’s stake in Genesis must stay above 80% to “to protect the potential value of [its holding company’s] interest in the federal net operating loss [NOL] carryforwards of the DCG Group.”