WisdomTree Prime digital asset application goes live, CEO faces shareholder threat of ousting

According to a report from CoinDesk, asset management firm WisdomTree's digital asset app, WisdomTree Prime, went live in New York on Thursday, allowing users to store, spend, and invest in digital assets on the blockchain. However, CEO Jonathan Steinberg faced opposition from the largest shareholder for aggressively promoting cryptocurrency and is set to vote against his reappointment at the annual meeting on 6/12.

WisdomTree Prime Launches in New York

WisdomTree received a limited-purpose trust company license from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) in March. Its digital asset application, WisdomTree Prime, went live in New York this Thursday and is expected to be available in 21 other states in the US by July.

WisdomTree Granted NYDFS Limited-Purpose Trust Company Charter to Issue Gold and Dollar Tokens

WisdomTree Prime allows users to store, spend, and invest in digital assets on the Stellar blockchain and Ethereum blockchain, using shared ownership records.

The company stated:

We are enhancing the functionality of WisdomTree Prime and plan to enable peer-to-peer transfers and payments in the coming quarters. We intend to ramp up marketing efforts throughout the year and increase awareness of WisdomTree Prime.

WisdomTree is also one of the issuers of Bitcoin spot ETFs, with its WisdomTree Bitcoin Trust BTCW having assets under management of approximately $69 million, making it the second smallest among the 11 Bitcoin spot ETFs in the US market.

Major Shareholder Opposes DeFi Expansion, Calls for CEO's Removal

However, according to the Financial Times, WisdomTree's largest shareholder and Chairman of ETFS Capital, Graham Tuckwell, disagrees with the company's aggressive move into DeFi and has urged investors to vote against the reappointment of current CEO Jonathan Steinberg at the annual meeting scheduled for June 12.

ETFS Capital holds around 18% of WisdomTree's shares, and Chairman Tuckwell believes that WisdomTree's current valuation between $21 billion and $30 billion is significantly higher than its current market capitalization of $14 billion.

He argues that DeFi has significantly diverted people's attention and has not been successful at all.