CoinShares International Limited

Thank you for standing by and welcome to the CoinShares Q1 earnings broadcast. All participants dialing in are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question and answer session. You can submit your questions via the postbox below the video on the platform. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand the conference over to your host, Jerry Lee Brown. Thank you.

Thank you, operator. I would like to welcome you all to the CoinShares 2024 Q1 earnings call and webcast. Speaking from management today will be John-Marie Magnetti, Chief Executive Officer, and Richard Nash, Chief Financial Officer. All those joining today are encouraged to log into the live event where you'll be able to view the accompanying presentation during today's call. Alternatively, presentation are available to download from the investor relations section of the CoinShares website. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the live call, and a transcript will be posted on the company's website as soon as it is available. Following the presentation, we will host a short Q&A via the webcast platform. Should you wish to submit a question to the management team, please provide your name and company affiliation. we will do our best to get to as many of these as we can in the allotted time. Lastly, our safe harbour statement. CoinShares would like to remind everyone that, except for historical information contained herein, statements made on today's call and webcast that constitute forward-looking statements are based on currently available information. The company assumes no responsibility to update any such forward-looking statements, and I would like to point you to the risk factors associated with our business, which are detailed in our prospectus. the call over to Jean-Marie.

Good afternoon everyone and thank you for taking the time today to join us and hear about Coinshare activity during Q1 2024, an historical quarter on more than one account. So Q1 2024 is our most successful quarter ever. Q1 2024 is marking a period of unmatched strength and profitability for Coinshares. Richard will give us all details on that soon, and before we delve into the specifics of our Q1 business activities, let's first take a look at the pivotal developments for both the industry and Coinshare during this landmark quarter. In January 2024, the US SEC granted approval for 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, signaling a significant shift toward integrating digital assets into the mainstream financial markets. This approval is a testament to our longstanding advocacy for the integration of digital assets, which has been part of our vision for over a decade in Europe. It doesn't only reflect the increasing acceptance of digital assets, but also strongly validates Coinshare's initial investment approach, which focuses on the institutional adoption of digital assets and democratizing access to these assets through regulated listed products. In line with our deal calendar, we completed in March 2024 the acquisition of Valkyrie Fund's ETF business. The strategic acquisition includes a few things. First, a registered investment advisor. Second, the sponsor right of a 33-act ETF, a Valkyrie Spot Bitcoin ETF. And third, the sponsor right of a 40-act ETF platform issuing right now three ETFs, one of them being WGMI, a very specialized Bitcoin miner ETF. Coinshares benefited from great timing and execution of this deal. As a reminder, the US ETF journey was started by the Winklevoss brother back in 2014. For Coinshares, as discussed with analysts at the time, we were deliberately not part of the race at the end of Q3 2023 for the lack of the right opportunity. This move in the US is crucial as it aligns with our commitment to becoming a leading global investment company specializing in digital ethics. The integration of our U.S. colleagues will enable us to enhance our operating model across risk, compliance, trading, and distribution, which is vital for our ability to compete on a global stage. Indeed, the U.S. market accounts for 50% of global assets under management and offers unique opportunity for coin share in terms of growth. The pricing panic on December 29th, 2023 among US ETF issuer following some late Friday night Twitter battles posed serious challenges for most US spot Bitcoin ETF issuer. Let me do some quick math here. 25 basis points headline revenue numbers and assuming custody is your main cost, issuer are left with 11 basis points of gross profit at best. That means not much net revenue at all, especially if you need to share that with a co-sponsor. Bottom line, unless you have tens of billions of dollars of AUM in this product line, it is a loss-making one. In this environment, our US spot Bitcoin ETF is positioned to be a doorbuster asset in the US, which we want to operate at breakeven. Our profitability in the US will not come from what we have been doing in Europe for 10 years, that would be way too easy, but from more sophisticated products, highlighting our strategic focus. While competition in the US is fierce, especially for industry giants like BlackRock and Fidelity, we accept that our strategy cannot lie in competing with these well-established entities with massive distribution networks. Instead, our competitive advantage is rooted in our deep expertise in the digital asset space and our hedge fund DNA, which resonate with American investors. Looking forward, we are poised to introduce more actively managed strategies, a cornerstone of our identity, anticipating the evolution of the ETF sector. We do believe that Coinshare, this sector, will increasingly blend the sophistication of hedge funds with the accessibility of regulated listed products such as EPPs. Our dual strengths in financial product structuring and active asset management, coupled with our technical understanding of the digital asset sector, aim to redefine industry standards and position Coinshare at the forefront of innovation in the financial world. Okay, I can see our company secretary telling me with her hands, I need to let our CFO speak. So without further delays, let's take a look at our Q1 financials. And I'm glad to be joined by Richard Nash to present these results. Richard, over to you.