This week’s Crypto Biz highlights the financial results of CoinShares and Galaxy Digital, the CEO of Franklin Templeton’s blockchain wager, Polymarket’s investment round, and a change in leadership at dYdX.

The first financial reports from the managers of Spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since the funds started trading have been made public.

In the first quarter, Galaxy Digital’s net income increased by 40%, and its management and performance fees came to $17.8 million, a 113% rise from the previous quarter.

CoinShares, which just finished acquiring Valkyrie’s spot Bitcoin ETF (BTC $66,793), reported a 216% increase in revenue to 19.5 million British pounds ($24.5 million) in the first quarter.

Regarding tokenization, representatives from Stellar and Ripple recently spoke about how asset tokenization enables the fusion of investments and payments. Jenny Johnson, CEO of Franklin Templeton, has predicted that mutual funds and all ETFs may soon be housed on blockchains.

The $70 million fundraising round for Polymarket and Antonio Juliano’s resignation as dYdX CEO are also covered in this week’s Crypto Biz.

Supported by markets and Bitcoin ETFs, CoinShares reports record revenue in Q1

The first quarter of 2024 saw a notable performance increase for European asset manager CoinShares, which was primarily attributable to the market’s recovery during that time. The company’s revenue increased by 216% to 19.5 million pounds ($24.5 million) during the same time in 2023. A significant increase was also observed in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which increased to 34.2 million pounds ($43 million) from 7 million pounds ($8.8 million) the year before. This represents a fourfold increase and an EBITDA margin of 78%. Furthermore, on March 12, CoinShares successfully concluded the strategic purchase of Valkyrie Funds, thereby broadening its portfolio by acquiring the rights to Valkyrie’s spot Bitcoin ETF and other cryptocurrency funds.

All ETFs and mutual funds will be on the blockchain, according to the CEO of Franklin Templeton

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Jenny Johnson, the CEO of Franklin Templeton, reaffirmed her support for blockchain. Johnson stated that “ETFs and mutual funds are all going to be on blockchain” during a tokenization debate. He also mentioned that the technology had shown to be far less expensive than conventional accounting techniques. She ascribed her forecast to the “huge costs” involved in cross-system data verification, an issue that blockchain was expressly created to address.

Polymarket raises $70 million from Founders Fund and Vitalik Buterin

Founders Fund, the venture capital firm founded by Peter Thiel, along with Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum, spearheaded a $70 million funding campaign for Polymarket, an online platform that facilitates political wagering. Bloomberg reports that Polymarket has raised $70 million in two investment rounds, demonstrating the growing popularity of betting on the US presidential election of 2024. Leading the most recent $45 million Series B Polymarket fundraising round was Founders Fund. According to the platform’s website, Polymarket has seen a spike in electoral betting, with bets totaling over $170 million on the next U.S. elections.

Revenue for Galaxy Digital surges as mining and fees reach all-time highs

In 2024, Galaxy Digital had a very successful first quarter. The company’s net income shot up to $422 million, 40% higher than the previous quarter. Record-breaking earnings from its mining activities and management fees supported the growth. A new high of $31.5 million was reached by the company’s mining revenue, which increased 69% from the previous quarter. This was mostly because of an increased mining capacity that produced a hash rate of 5.7 excashes per second. At an average cost per Bitcoin of less than $19,500, the company mined 373 Bitcoin. Galaxy also revealed a notable increase in income from asset management, with management and performance fees hitting $17.8 million, up 113% from the prior year.