Galaxy Digital Inc.

Good morning, and welcome to the Galaxy Digital 4th Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. Today's call is being recorded. Later, you'll have the opportunity to ask questions. To register to ask a question, please press the star and 1 at any time. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Jonathan Gudowski, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Good morning, and welcome to Galaxy's 4th Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Call. Before we begin, please note that our remarks today may include forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated or implied by our forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those identified in our filings with the Canadian Securities Regulatory Authority on CDAR Plus and available on our website or in future filings we make with other securities regulators. Forward-looking statements speak only as of today and will not be updated. In addition, none of the information on this call constitutes a recommendation, solicitation, or offer by Galaxy or its affiliates to buy or sell any securities, including Galaxy securities. With that, I'll turn it over to Mike Novogratz, founder and CEO of Galaxy.

Good morning. Listen, we've got a lot to unpack today. I'm going to dive right in. But not before I tell you it's a beautiful day in New York City. I'm very pleased with our full year 2024 results. I certainly wish they were indented by our settlement with the Attorney General. Our team thought long and hard about settling. But when we weighed being tied up for two to three years in a lawsuit with the New York AG versus the opportunity ahead of us, it was pretty clear that the right thing for Galaxy to do was to put this behind us and move on. What I'm most pleased with in 2024 is that our operating business had both positive EBITDA and over $400 million of revenue. In 2018, when we started Galaxy, the idea was to build an institutional crypto business. And I really feel like 2024, we hit the first major milestone in accomplishing that. With the Trump administration's new really welcome approach to crypto, we're seeing nothing but new opportunities with institutions getting in the space. So I couldn't be more excited for the forward trajectory. Our balance sheet had a fine 2024, which should have been expected given crypto's excellent performance. Unfortunately, 2025 has not been kind to many of the crypto assets we hold and our balance sheet has suffered some. I point this out because up until now, Galaxy's results really have been driven by balance sheet management and the balance sheet in general. I firmly believe that we're at the cusp of transitioning from a balance sheet company to a company with two great operating businesses, one in crypto and one in data centers. And over time, the balance sheet will have less impact on results. That probably doesn't happen for at least one or two more years, but that's certainly the direction we're traveling in. The most exciting news of the day is certainly our announced deal with CoreWeave. This is a giant and great first step in what I believe will be building out one of the US's largest AI data centers. I'm going to give most of the details of this to Chris Ferraro, who has worked diligently and tirelessly to get this done with a great team. Finally, I want to leave you guys with some macro thoughts. We went into the year with risk assets, mostly on the highs. Equities were expensive and, you know, crypto had had a great run. The Donald Trump presidency has certainly added volatility into the mix. And if you think about it, we are taking, let me 40 to 60 years of what was a security apparatus built around NATO and a financial apparatus built around built around multilateral cooperation, trade agreements that existed since after World War II, and changing all of that. And I think that's going to continue to provide a lot of volatility to the market. Overall, I think it's going to be a tough time for risk assets for a while. Equities probably don't trade nearly as well as they did last year. the dollar probably is sold off and yield curves probably steepen. And so in that environment, some of that is bad for crypto and some of that is good for crypto. Crypto went into the year with this spectacular enthusiasm based on coming out of four years of purgatory and into this new regulatory environment that was very pro-crypto. We can't really have a more pro-crypto administration than the one we have right now. And so a lot of people ask me, well, why are the prices lower? Well, every once in a while in the markets, lots of the good news get priced in. And I think you saw probably a short-term market top around the inauguration, right? There was plenty of euphoria. There was a crypto ball in D.C. where everyone wanted to go. Crypto CEOs were everywhere. And while that maybe marked a short-term top, I think for the medium and longer term, it's wildly bullish. What do I see for the rest of this year? I think we're going to have choppy to tough markets for the next quarter or so. But by the second half of the year, the Fed should be cutting interest rates. We already have China and Europe increasing money supply. So when you have all three major forces in the world increasing money supply, that's usually good for Bitcoin and the rest of crypto assets. We also have a government that has pledged to make a lot of changes in crypto regulation. That doesn't happen really to the second half of the year. So you talk about it early and then you get it, you know, you put the sausage through the sausage machine. But we should end up by third quarter, fourth quarter at latest, with stablecoin legislation, with market structure legislation, and with potentially the federal government figuring out ways to buy crypto. And so when I look at that backdrop, while I'm cautious in the short run, I'm still very optimistic about crypto in the long run. Finally, I want to welcome Tony Paquette to Galaxy as our new chief financial officer. Tony joins us from Point72, where he was a CFO for the past four years, leading a global finance team and overseeing the implementation of their digital assets trading strategy. He brings extensive experience in banking, fintech, and asset management, and his strategic vision and leadership will be instrumental in driving our business forward. Tony, now over to you.