Form 8-K - Current report

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

    Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): December 26, 2023

   

Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC)

(Exact name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)


Delaware	000-56309	82-6239281
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

c/o Grayscale Investments, LLC 290 Harbor Drive, 4th Floor
Stamford, Connecticut		06902
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)		(Zip Code)

    Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code: 212 668-1427

   

N/A

(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:


	☐	Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
	☐	Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
	☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
	☐	Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:


Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC) Shares	ETCG	N/A

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§ 230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§ 240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company ☒

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 8.01 Other Events.

On December 26, 2023, Grayscale Investments, LLC, the sponsor (the “Sponsor”) of Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC), announced that Barry E. Silbert and Mark Murphy notified the sole member of Sponsor (the “Sole Member”) of their resignation from the board of directors of the Sponsor (the “Board”) effective January 1, 2024, and that the Sole Member appointed Mark Shifke, Matthew Kummell and Edward McGee to the Board effective January 1, 2024. Mr. Shifke succeeds Mr. Silbert as Chairman of the Board. Effective January 1, 2024, the Board consists of Mr. Shifke, Mr. Kummell, Michael Sonnenshein, and Mr. McGee, who also retain the authority granted to them as officers under the limited liability company agreement of the Sponsor.

Mark Shifke, Chairman of the Board

Mark Shifke, 64, is the Chief Financial Officer of Digital Currency Group, Inc. (“DCG”). Since March 2021, Mr. Shifke has served on the board of directors of Dock Ltd., a full-stack payments and digital banking platform. Since September 2023, Mr. Shifke has served on the board of directors of Luno, a cryptocurrency platform. Mr. Shifke has nearly four decades of financial and fintech experience, and more than eight years of CFO experience leading two publicly-traded companies. Prior to joining DCG, Mr. Shifke served as CFO of Billtrust, a company focused on providing AR and cloud-based solutions around payments, and as CFO of Green Dot (NYSE: GDOT), a mobile banking company and payments platform. Previously, Mr. Shifke led teams at JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, specializing in M&A Structuring and Advisory, as well as Tax Asset Investments. Mr. Shifke also served as the Head of International Structured Finance Group at KPMG. Mr. Shifke began his career at Davis Polk, where he was a partner. He is a graduate of Tulane University (B.A./J.D.) and the New York University School of Law (LL.M. in Taxation).

Matthew Kummell, Board Member

Matt Kummell, 47, is Senior Vice President of Operations at DCG. In this role, Mr. Kummell leads the business’s post-investment efforts, including investment operations and value creation with regard to DCG’s portfolio companies. Since December 2023, Mr. Kummell has served as a member of the board of directors of Foundry, a digital asset mining and staking company. Until November 2023, Mr. Kummell served on the board of directors of CoinDesk, Inc., a digital media, events and information services company for the crypto asset and blockchain technology community. Until January 2012, Mr. Kummell served on the board of directors of Derivix Corporation, a financial services software company. Prior to joining DCG, Mr. Kummell was the Head of North America for Citi’s Business Advisory Services team, a strategic consulting practice focused on institutional investor clients in Citi’s Markets division. Mr. Kummell has also held strategic and front-office leadership roles at Citadel, Balyasny Asset Management, and S.A.C. Capital Advisors, the predecessor to Point 72 Asset Management. Previously, Mr. Kummell served as a case team leader at Bain & Company in its Boston headquarters. Mr. Kummell is an Adjunct Professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (B.A.) and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College (MBA).

Edward McGee, Board Member and Chief Financial Officer

Edward McGee, 40, serves on the Audit Committee of the Sponsor, and has been the Chief Financial Officer of the Sponsor since January 2022. Before serving in such role, Mr. McGee was Vice President, Finance and Controller of the Sponsor since June 2019. Prior to taking on his role at the Sponsor, Mr. McGee served as a Vice President, Accounting Policy at Goldman, Sachs & Co. providing coverage to their SEC Financial Reporting team facilitating the preparation and review of their financial statements and provided U.S. GAAP interpretation, application and policy development while servicing their Special Situations Group, Merchant Banking Division and Urban Investments Group from 2014 to 2019. From 2011 to 2014, Mr. McGee was an auditor at Ernst & Young providing assurance services to publicly listed companies. Mr. McGee earned his Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the John H. Sykes College of Business at the University of Tampa and graduated with honors while earning his Master of Accountancy in Financial Accounting from the Rutgers Business School at the State University of New Jersey. Mr. McGee is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in the state of New York.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.


			Grayscale Investments, LLC as Sponsor of Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC)

Date:	December 26, 2023	By:	/s/ Michael Sonnenshein
			Michael Sonnenshein Chief Executive Officer

Document and Entity Information	Dec. 26, 2023
Cover [Abstract]
Document Type	8-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 26, 2023
Entity Registrant Name	Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC)
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	DE
Securities Act File Number	000-56309
Entity Tax Identification Number	82-6239281
Entity Address, Address Line One	c/o Grayscale Investments, LLC
Entity Address, Address Line Two	290 Harbor Drive, 4th Floor
Entity Address, City or Town	Stamford
Entity Address, State or Province	CT
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	06902
City Area Code	212
Local Phone Number	668-1427
Written Communications	false
Soliciting Material	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Title of 12(g) Security	Grayscale Ethereum Classic Trust (ETC) Shares
Trading Symbol	ETCG
Entity Emerging Growth Company	true
Entity Ex Transition Period	false
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0001705181