CoinShares to Launch Business Segment Following Record Q1

Digital asset investment company CoinShares reported its most successful quarter in history with 2021 first quarter earnings outperforming all of 2020. The company also announced the launch of a new business segment intended to broaden their client base. 

The Jersey-based company, which trades on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market, reported assets under management of £3.4 billion ($4.8 billion), up from £380 million ($537 million) a year ago. CoinShares also reported a £24.7 million ($34.9 million) year-on-year increase in comprehensive income. 

CoinShares, along with other cryptocurrency exchanges and investment firms, can largely thank the 2020 digital asset bull market, which extended into the first quarter of 2021, for the unprecedented growth. The recent broad sell-off in the cryptocurrency market however presents challenges. 

“In recent weeks, the cryptocurrency market has reached as high as $2.6 trillion and as low as $1.4 trillion,” CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti said in a statement. “And while the asset class can be volatile, even the lower of the figures reflects over half a trillion dollars of market growth since the start of the year.”

New business segment

By the end of this year, CoinShares will launch a new business segment focused on the consumer finance market, according to Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares.

“This will leverage our technology and compliance capabilities to bring innovative solutions directly to a new type of user,” Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer of CoinShares, said on the company’s earnings call Monday. “We believe digital assets are for everyone, not just our wealthiest clients and we intend to provide access in a trusted, transparent and compliant manner.”

As the asset class remained volatile and competition from other companies increases, CoinShares will expand research into ethereum, solana and other emerging protocols. The company will also add coverage of crypto equities, something Demirors said is essential as more companies in the space go public and investor interest increases. 

“Many of the companies in our space are financial services oriented, made up of asset managers, hedge funds and traders,” said Demirors. “We have taken a different path, building a team of engineers and then blending that expertise with our knowledge of financial markets. We leverage our financial and trading competence to build products and services that traditional exchange-traded fund companies simply cannot match.”