Bitcoin Market Maker GSR Hires Former Goldman Sachs Managing Director

Market maker GSR bets on traditional finance industry veterans as it looks to secure a stronghold in the digital asset space.

2 min read

Feb 15, 2021

Digital asset market-making firm GSR has appointed Trey Griggs as CEO of GSR Services USA, which is a subsidiary division of GSR’s global operation.

In the early days of his career, Griggs worked at Goldman Sachs’ J. Aron division alongside GSR founders Cristian Gil and Richard Rosenblum. He spearheaded the bank’s North American Energy Risk Management activities and established the Houston based Commodities Sales & Trading Office, which he led from 2011 to 2015.

Trey Griggs’s previous experience also includes roles of president, chief commercial officer and executive VP at independent power producer Calpine.

Founded in 2013, GSR specializes in providing liquidity, risk management and structured products to institutional participants in the digital asset ecosystem. That year GSR became one of the first market makers on Ripple’s consensus ledger. Over the next few years it integrated with major crypto exchanges, including Bitstamp, Bitso, Bittrex and Bithumb.

The firm also runs its own OTC trading desk and saw 2020 as its first billion-dollar year in the creation and trading of custom cryptocurrency options.

GSR hires new COO

GSR also announced the appointment of David Sola—the former managing director of global investment bank Houlihan Lokey’s Financial Institutions Group—as its new Chief Operating Officer. He spent seven years at UBS, where he was the co-head of European M&A.

According to Sola, he was impressed with the vision and caliber of the GSR team as well as its potential to impact the future of finance.

“Digital assets are transforming the financial industry and every vertical it serves, and I saw this as an exciting opportunity to drive that progress,” said Sola.

With institutional interest in digital assets skyrocketing over the past year, it will be interesting to see if GSR can continue to make an impact in the space.

The firm definitely believes so, having also acquired other veteran finance and technology executives from the likes of Citadel, IBM and Oracle, and plans to expand its business among traditional financial firms entering the digital asset marketplace.

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