CoinShares, a European-based digital asset management company, has secured an exclusive option to acquire Valkyrie Funds. Valkyrie Funds is the exchange-traded fund (ETF) unit of Valkyrie Investments, which is the U.S. competitor of CoinShares.
The acquisition means that CoinShares has also acquired the rights to the Valkyrie spot Bitcoin ETF, pending its approval by the SEC. The move is setting up a strong precedent for CoinShares’ plans to expand its business to the U.S. markets, moving towards its goal of being a focal point for ETF offerings in the U.S. CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti has stated after the acquisition news was confirmed that he sees this move as a big opportunity to tap into the global ETF market which is currently seeing different firms and organizations vying to be the top player in terms of providing ETFs to potential investors.
Europe has been the early adopter of Bitcoin-backed exchange-traded products. The market has seen a very big evolution since that time, and Mognetti is hopeful that the trend will follow soon into the U.S. market. While the approval process of Bitcoin-backed spot ETF has seen substantial opposition from the regulatory authorities in the U.S., most noticeably by the SEC, Mognetti considers this as an opportunity to tap into a market that has very large potential to grow exponentially once the legalities have been sorted and the SEC starts approving the applications of several major players like BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, etc., who are vying to be the first players to offer such services in the U.S.
The exclusive option of CoinShares is valid until March 31, 2024, during which Valkyrie Funds will continue operating independently until the acquisition is finalized.
Additionally, the two firms agreed on a brand licensing arrangement, allowing the CoinShares name to be used in future S-1 filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), commonly used for registering securities offerings when companies plan to go public. If the SEC approves the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, Valkyrie intends to incorporate the CoinShares name into the ETF.
CoinShares, managing assets over $3.2 billion, expressed optimism about the U.S. cryptocurrency ETF market in September, expressing confidence in their ability to be fully compliant with the guidelines of the SEC regarding the policies set for digital assets regulations.
