Exercise option to acquire CoinShares US Bitcoin ETF Issuer Valkyrie

The European kriptovalyutnogo investment firm CoinShares is moving forward with a purchase of Valkyrie Fund, a competitor of the United States, which is also a Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuer in the United States.

On January 12, CoinShares confirmed the exercise of the strategic option to acquire Valkyrie, strengthening its efforts to enter the American market.

A spokesperson for CoinShares declined to disclose the terms of the deal to Cointelegraph, but said:

“CoinShares aims to be a leading global investment company specializing in digital assets. […] It made sense for us to expand into the US and join the Bitcoin ETF competition for the space.

According to CoinShares' official statement, the firm's decision to use this option is a direct result of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's approval of the Valkyrie Spot Bitcoin ETF along with 10 other Spot BTC ETFs. Called the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund, the ETF began trading on the Nasdaq on January 11 under the symbol BRRR.

The Valkyrie BRRR ETF traded about $9 million in shares on its first day of trading, according to data from Yahoo Finance, lagging behind giants like Grayscale, which handles more than $2 billion in such trades.

The acquisition is pending due diligence, necessary legal agreements and final company board approval. The announcement reads that Valkyrie Funds has retained its operational independence until the acquisition is fully executed and completed. CoinShares initially confirmed the option to acquire a Valkyrie crypto unit in November 2023. The option is expected to remain active until March 31.

The development of CoinShares' capacity acquisition is a result of positive developments in the US regulatory landscape and CoinShares' strategy to expand its digital asset offerings in the US market.

“Our acquisition of Valkyrie Funds aims to expand our European success in the US by providing American investors with unparalleled access to regulated digital asset products,” CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Magnetti said.

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Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald said CoinShares' expertise combined with Valkyrie's strengths “promise to propel the US digital asset investment sphere forward, particularly in the digital asset ETF market.”

The ETF-focused collaboration between Valkyrie and CoinShares seems notable as some of the major European crypto investment firms have partnered with Bitcoin ETF issuers from some locations in the United States. 21Shares, one of the largest issuers of crypto exchange-traded products in Europe, is a partner of ARK Invest and 21Shares Bitcoin ETF, which started trading on the Cboe exchange under the ticker symbol ARKB.

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