Bitwise Expands into Europe with ETC Group Acquisition

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Key takeaways:

  • With the acquisition of crypto investment company ETC Group, San Francisco-based asset management firm Bitwise has expanded into the European market.
  • The acquisition brings Bitwise’s total assets under management to over $4.5 billion and adds nine crypto ETPs that are listed in Europe.

With the acquisition of crypto investment company ETC Group, San Francisco-based asset management firm Bitwise has expanded into the European market. The corporations withheld the financial specifics of the purchase from the public.

As per a statement released on August 19, the London-based company ETC Group is in possession of more than $1 billion in assets under management (AUM). Its product portfolio comprises a variety of physical crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), such as the Bitcoin ETP (BTCE), Ethereum with staking (ET32), Solana (ESOL), XRP (GXRP), and the MSCI Digital Assets Select 20 (DA20).

The acquisition brings Bitwise’s total assets under management to over $4.5 billion and adds nine crypto ETPs that are listed in Europe. Hunter Horsley, CEO of Bitwise, said in a statement:

โ€œThis acquisition allows us to serve European investors, to offer clients global insight, and to expand the product suite with innovative ETPs,โ€

Since 2020, when it first introduced its crypto ETPs on the Deutsche Bรถrse Xetra with regulatory approval from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, or BaFin, the ETC Group has been launching exchange-traded products. 

The company is also the creator of an exchange-traded fund (ETF) called Blockchain Equity, which provides investors with exposure to European blockchain-based businesses.

One of the asset managers in charge of the recently authorized spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US is Bitwise. 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved 11 asset management applications in January, including Bitwise’s Bitcoin ETF (BITB). The fund’s website states that as of August 19, its net assets were close to $2.27 billion.

Regulators also gave the company permission in July to introduce the Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), a spot Ether ETP. In its first few weeks of operation, the fund has amassed more than $300 million in assets, according to Bitwise.

The adoption of crypto ETPs is anticipated to pick up speed in the upcoming years due to institutional demand and the regulatory landscape surrounding digital assets becoming more developed.

In the past, Horsley has called the US adoption of Bitcoin ETFs by multifamily offices and registered financial advisers “stealthy but significant.” Eleven Bitcoin ETFs have amassed more than $51 billion in aggregate assets under management (AUM) since their Wall Street debut.

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