Bitwise Buys Crypto Firm Attestant to Add Staking Services

Bitwise Asset Managment bought London-based crypto firm Attestant Ltd., adding staking services and $3.7 billion in assets as investors pile into ethereum and other digital currencies. 

Terms of the acquisition by Bitwise, which runs the $2.71 billion Bitwise Bitcoin ETF (BITB), the No. 3 spot bitcoin ETF, weren’t disclosed in a press statement. Five-year-old Attestant has 13 employees, according to Pitchbook, and the purchase brings New York-based Bitwise to 90 employees, the statement said. 

Staking is the mechanism by which Ethereum and other cryptocurrency transactions are validated. Demand for staking, which offers participants rewards in exchange for locking up their crypto for a period, may surge under the pro-crypto Trump presidency and because a relatively small portion of ethereum has been staked, according to a Coindesk analysis. Bitcoin doesn’t utilize staking. 

“We want Bitwise to be the best possible partner to investors in the crypto space,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “This acquisition allows us to expand the ways we can help investors meet their objectives.” 

Bitwise, whose chief investment officer Matt Hougan is on the etf.com editorial advisory board, also runs the $233.7 million Bitwise Ethereum ETF (ETHW), one of the largest spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds. 

The firm, which has issued seven ETFs in the U.S. with $2.82 billion in assets, has been on a roll since the first spot bitcoin ETFs were approved this year. In addition to issuing new crypto ETFs in the U.S., it’s set to debut its first exchange-traded product in Europe, which follows its August purchase of London-based digital asset issuer ETC Group.

Attestant, whose name means one who bears witness, offers its services to clients including family offices, high-net-worth individuals, funds, traditional financial institutions, exchanges and more, the statement said.