Today San Francisco based Bitwise announced it acquired London-based crypto asset manager ETC Group which is active across mainland Europe. With ETC managing $1.1 billion in assets, the acquisition brings Bitwise’s assets under management (AUM) to over $4.5 billion. Bitwise did not disclose the terms of the deal.
A single Bitcoin exchange traded product, BTCE, accounts for over 85% of of ETC Group’s AUM. However, ETC Group has a range of crypto offerings. While every unit is backed one for one by the physical cryptocurrency, its exchange traded commodities are debt issuances backed by the asset.
For Bitwise, its spot Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB) is also its largest product with over $2 billion in AUM. It was one of the eleven ETFs that received SEC approval in January.
“Bitwise is building a global crypto asset manager for investors and financial advisors who want a best-in-class partner specialized in this fast-growing asset class,” said Hunter Horsley, Bitwise’s CEO. “This acquisition allows us to serve European investors, to offer clients global insight, and to expand the product suite with innovative ETPs. We’re proud of the reputation we have built over the last six years with advisors, institutions, and investors as a sophisticated asset manager in crypto markets, and look forward to bringing this expertise to European investors.”
While Bitwise is expanding into Europe, moves are also afoot in the other direction.
In January another crypto asset manager, Coinshares, acquired the smaller asset manager Valkyrie funds which had $110 million in AUM. In that case, European-based Coinshares bought a presence in the United States. Coinshares has AUM of $4.9 billion.
