- O'Leary prefers Bitcoin 'digital gold' to ETFs.
- CoinShares may buy ETF issuer Valkyrie.
- South Korea warns on US spot Bitcoin ETFs.
O’Leary wouldn’t pay fees for spot Bitcoin ETFs
Investor Kevin O’Leary of television’s “Shark Tank” fame said he “would never buy” the newly approved spot Bitcoin ETFs because he already holds Bitcoin and prefers not to pay additional fees.
“If you’re a purist and you’re just holding Bitcoin for the long term as a digital gold as I am, I would never buy an ETF,” he told Fox Business. “Why would I pay these fees? It’s completely unnecessary, and they add no value to me.”
Still, he said the introduction of the spot Bitcoin ETFs shows “a march forward” for the crypto industry that he hopes will “re-energise Congress” to look at digital payment systems related to “USDC, for example, which is based on the US dollar.”
He noted the still-undeveloped state of the crypto industry. “Now, we have this momentous occasion, which is great. But we’re way early, we’re in the first inning,” O’Leary said.
While the US Securities and Exchange Commission approved 11 Bitcoin ETFs, he doesn’t see all of them surviving in the long term.
“I would bet that behemoths like Fidelity and BlackRock end up on top because they have massive sales forces,” O’Leary said.
CoinShares exercises option to acquire Valkyrie
CoinShares has exercised its option to acquire Valkyrie Funds, which was approved last week by the SEC as an issuer of a spot Bitcoin ETF, the European crypto investment company said in a statement.
CoinShares said that its decision to exercise the option came as a direct result of the SEC approval and aligns it “with the positive developments in the US regulatory landscape and CoinShares’ strategy to expand its digital asset offerings in the US market.”
Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of CoinShares, said: “Exercising our option to acquire Valkyrie Funds aims at extending our European success in the US, offering unparalleled access to regulated digital asset products to American investors. This expansion is a clear statement of our appetite for acquisition to support our ambition to be a global leader in the digital asset space.”
When completed, the deal is expected to increase CoinShares’ AUM, currently at $4.5 billion, by about $110 million.
The acquisition is pending due diligence, legal agreements and board approval.
South Korea warns on brokering US Bitcoin ETFs
South Korea’s Financial Services Commission said that brokering the newly approved US spot Bitcoin ETFs may be illegal in local markets, Reuters reported.
“For domestic securities firms, any brokering of overseas-listed Bitcoin spot Exchange Traded Funds may violate the existing government stance on virtual assets and the Capital Markets Act,” the FSC said, adding that it will continue to review the regulatory landscape around investment of spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Crypto market movers
- Bitcoin is up 0.29% today at $42,964.90.
- Ethereum is down 1.11% today at $2,325.73.
What we’re reading
⋅ Bitcoin’s Wall Street takeover frustrates crypto’s true believers — Financial Times
⋅ Lazarus robbed crypto firms of $293m in 2023; North Korea-linked group becoming more dangerous — DL News
⋅ Gensler speculates on Ethereum post-Bitcoin ETF approval — Crypto.News
