By Daniel Palmer
XBT Provider, the operator of Bitcoin Tracker One and Bitcoin Tracker EUR, announced today its acquisition by Global Advisors – a Jersey-based hedge fund specializing in digital currency. With the move, trading in XBT’s exchange traded certificates (ETCs) is again active after being halted in late May due to the bankruptcy of KnC Group, XBT’s former guarantor and 72% owner.
Nasdaq has approved Global Advisors as the firm’s new guarantor. Simultaneously, the XBT Group has also become a Global Advisors subsidiary.
In statements, Daniel Masters, co-founder and director of Global Advisors, took an expansive view of the sale and how it bolstered the firm’s offerings.
Masters said:
“We believe bitcoin will change the world. Acquiring control of XBT Group is a unique opportunity to increment our strategy of creating access to bitcoin as an asset class.”
Johan Wattenström, CEO and co-founder of XBT Group, commented that, as part of Global Advisors, his firm now has the “capabilities and means” to more quickly grow its business and provide investors with a “broad range of products and services for safe and easy exposure to bitcoin markets”.
The acquisition comes at a time when institutional investors are demonstrating an interest in digital currencies as an asset class, and mainstream traders are said to be increasingly considering the investment in a search for yield.
KnC, a startup that had raised $32m in venture funding, declared itself bankrupt in May.