(Bloomberg) — CoinShares, one of Europe’s largest cryptocurrency asset managers, has secured the option to acquire exchange-traded funds from competitor Valkyrie, which is preparing a spot Bitcoin fund that’s awaiting regulatory approval.
The move gives St. Helier, Jersey-based CoinShares the right to buy the entirety of Valkyrie’s funds division, including ETFs that have pending applications but haven’t yet launched. Valkyrie currently runs a Bitcoin-and-Ether-futures ETF as well as a fund based on Bitcoin miners, which — with a more than 100% gain — is one of the best-performing non-leveraged equities ETFs this year. The two funds have total assets of around $57 million, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Valkyrie will remain an independent company until CoinShares decides to exercise its acquisition option, the window for which is open until the end of the first quarter next year.
The Nashville, Tennessee-based firm seeks to launch a highly anticipated ETF that would track spot Bitcoin prices. The US Securities and Exchange Commission yet again this week deferred making a decision on whether to approve the first US ETF that invests directly in Bitcoin, despite market watchers speculating that approval is around the corner.
That was top of mind for CoinShares, said the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Jean-Marie Mognetti. “If we can find a way to be part of this race, to find a way to be at the finish line with the right partner, that’s very important for us,” he said.
CoinShares has been making inroads into the US market. The asset manager, which oversees more than $3 billion, announced a hedge fund division in September as it looked to make its services available to American investors. Since then, cryptocurrencies have been staging a comeback as investors anticipate the eventual debut of the spot Bitcoin funds. The largest digital token, up more than 100% this year, is trading around $37,000, though that’s still nowhere near its 2021 all-time high of nearly $69,000.
Earlier: Crypto Asset Manager CoinShares Starts US Hedge Fund Group
“We are number one in Europe — the point is to be a global leading player. We want to be the number-one player globally,” said Mognetti. “To make that happen, we need to have a play in the US, we need to have the right partner in the US.”
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