CoinShares acquires purchasing rights for Valkyrie’s crypto ETF unit

CoinShares – Building the future of investing

CoinShares has announced that it has obtained the exclusive option to acquire Valkyrie Funds, the ETF unit of its U.S. competitor, Valkyrie Investments. This includes the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, which is awaiting its U.S. approval.

“Exciting update! @CoinSharesCo secures an option to acquire @ValkyrieFunds, uniting our strengths to create a global one-stop-shop in digital asset investments. This marks a strategic leap towards market leadership and bolsters our strong presence in the U.S.!” said CoinShares in a social media post.

CoinShares explained that this step would expand its reach in the U.S., potentially becoming a central point for ETF offerings. CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti said acquiring Valkyrie would enable the company to benefit from the current disorganized global ETF market.

“The establishment of crypto spot ETPs in Europe since 2015, a development about to be mirrored in the U.S., is the perfect illustration,” said Mognetti. “This disparity in market evolution presents both challenges and significant opportunities.”

The option will stay valid until March 31, 2024. Valkyrie Funds will continue working independently until CoinShares completes the acquisition.

Valkyrie shared the news on social media, saying, “Big News! Valkyrie is set to join the @CoinSharesCo family! We’re thrilled about this partnership, uniting our U.S. market insights with CoinShares’ global expertise. Together, we’re redefining digital asset investment in the U.S. and beyond!”

CoinShares and Valkyrie also reached an agreement on brand licensing. This allows Valkyrie to use the CoinShares brand in future S-1 filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). S-1 filings are used to register a securities offering when companies intend to go public.

“Together, with Valkyrie’s established U.S. presence and existing offerings, alongside CoinShares global reach and infrastructure, we’re poised to deliver groundbreaking products aimed at solving investors’ needs,” said Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald.

Valkyrie applied for the spot Bitcoin ETF on June 21, alongside BlackRock and several other financial firms. If the SEC approves the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, Valkyrie intends to include the CoinShares name in the ETF.

CoinShares, OKX, Komainu collaborate to tackle crypto vulnerability

In other news, CoinShares has formed a strategic partnership with OKX and Komainu, a regulated digital asset custody service. This collaboration allows CoinShares to trade 24/7 on the OKX platform while ensuring assets are securely held in segregated custody by Komainu.

This partnership represents a significant step forward in institutional crypto trading, addressing an issue of counterparty risk. Storing collateral assets in third-party custody with Komainu boosts security and lowers risks for institutional traders. This establishes a new benchmark for integrating institutional traders with high-quality trading platforms, providing clarity on rights, responsibilities and redress procedures.

Lennix Lai, global chief commercial officer at OKX, highlighted that this agreement enables traders to access OKX’s market liquidity while ensuring asset security through Komainu.

“We’ve listened to our institutional customers and worked with Komainu and CoinShares, who are leaders in their respective sectors, to find a mutually beneficial solution that mitigates counterparty risk while maximizing upside for traders,” Lai said.

Lewis Fellas, head of hedge fund solutions at CoinShares, highlighted that the partnership addresses a major obstacle to institutional involvement in crypto markets. Fellas said they had worked with OKX and Komainu for six months to create a solid legal structure and systems to lower counterparty risk and support high-volume trading.

“For institutional investors, counterparty risk is the Achilles heel of crypto when trading on exchange. Without fail it’s the topic most discussed in investor meetings and a major challenge to be overcome as we prepare for true institutional participation in crypto markets,” he said.

Nicolas Bertrand, CEO at Komainu, expressed pride in sharing Komainu’s expertise in the three-party agreement as this advances the goal of establishing more reliable crypto markets.

“This is a significant step forward in our mission to provide digital asset custody solutions to our customers. We are very pleased to contribute our expertise in institutional-grade custody services to this tripartite agreement, which advances our vision of achieving more trusted crypto markets in collaboration with OKX and CoinShares,” Bertrand said.