Valkyrie Raises $11M in Push To Offer More Crypto Funds
BNY Mellon participated in the strategic round as the fund group seeks to expand headcount
Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald | Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel
key takeaways
- Valkyrie seeks to hire developers and sales and distribution professionals to handle demand for crypto ETFs, trusts
- The company is prepping launches of private funds and separately managed accounts and plans to file for more ETFs
Crypto-focused asset manager Valkyrie Investments has raised roughly $11 million as part of a strategic round that will help the firm hire more people and add to its product lineup.
Despite crypto companies such as Coinbase and Gemini revealing plans to slow hiring or make staffing cuts, Valkyrie continues to make hires on a rolling basis, a spokesperson said.
“We are actively hiring both developers and sales and distribution [professionals], both of which we need in order to handle the significant inbound interest in our ETFs and protocol trusts, our hedge funds and our venture fund,” Valkyrie Chief Investment Officer Steven McClurg told Blockworks.
BNY Mellon, which added Valkyrie to its Accelerator Program in April, participated in the funding round. A spokesperson at the company declined to comment on the investment.
Other investors included Coinbase Ventures, Wedbush Financial Services, Clearsky, Zilliqa Capital, C Squared Ventures, Belvedere Strategic Capital and SenaHill Partners.
Nashville-based Valkyrie will also seek to build out its offerings following the fresh funding. It has three ETFs trading in the US with combined assets under management of roughly $30 million, according to ETF.com.
The Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF), which became the US’s second ETF to invest primarily in bitcoin futures contracts when it launched last October, holds about 90% of those managed assets. The firm also has a Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF (VBB) and a Bitcoin Miners ETF (WGMI), which Valkyrie brought to market in December and February, respectively.
Valkyrie is working to offer another bitcoin futures ETF — this one filed under the Securities Act of 1933 — and plans to file for other crypto ETFs soon, McClurg noted. The firm declined to share specifics on potential future products.
“We have a few additional private funds and [separately managed accounts] set to launch, and we are also building out the proprietary technology needed for larger institutional clients, such as fund administration and reporting,” McClurg added.
Valkyrie unveiled its first multi-coin trust for accredited investors in April, following up that launch by offering its first Avalanche-focused investment vehicle.
The SEC has rejected the company’s spot bitcoin ETF proposals, but the firm, along with others, continue to engage with the regulator about launching such a fund.
“The race to be first to market will not be for the faint of heart, and we embrace this challenge,” Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald told Blockworks in March.
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