Crypto
asset
manager
Grayscale
has
hired
former
Invesco
Head
of
Americas
John
Hoffman
to
lead
its
distribution
and
partnerships
team,
six
weeks
before
a
decision
is
set
to
come
out
on
whether
the
company
will
be
allowed
to
launch
a
spot
bitcoin
(BTC)
exchange-traded-fund
(ETF).
Hoffman
–
an
ETF
veteran
–
spent
over
17
years
at
investment
manager
Invesco,
first
as
the
director
of
ETF
institutional
sales
and
capital
markets
at
Invesco
PowerShares
Capital
Management,
before
moving
into
an
adviser
role
and
most
recently,
leading
the
Americas,
ETF
and
indexed
strategies
team.
“The
Grayscale
team
is
thrilled
to
have
John
Hoffman
join
us
as
Managing
Director
and
Head
of
Distribution
and
Strategic
Partnerships.
John
has
a
wealth
of
industry
and
ETF
expertise,
which
will
be
invaluable
to
our
team
and
clients,
especially
during
this
exciting
time
at
Grayscale,”
Dave
LaValle,
Global
Head
of
ETFs
at
Grayscale
said.
Invesco
is
one
of
the
biggest
issuers
of
ETFs
in
the
U.S.
with
currently
over
200
ETFs
traded
on
U.S.
markets
and
roughly
$425
billion
in
assets
under
management
(AUM).
The
company
recently
suffered
another
big
departure.
Anna
Paglia,
who
served
as
global
head
of
ETFs,
indexed
strategies,
SMAs
and
models
at
Invesco
for
the
past
seven
years,
left
to
join
State
Street
Global
Advisors
–
the
investment
management
division
of
State
Street
–
as
executive
vice
president
and
chief
business
officer.
Grayscale
is
hoping
to
convert
its
GBTC
bitcoin
trust
into
an
ETF
in
January,
when
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
decides
whether
to
approve
the
launch
of
13
potential
spot
bitcoin
ETFs,
including
that
of
BlackRock,
Invesco,
and
Franklin,
among
others.