Spot Bitcoin ETF: Valkyrie Expands its Primary Custodian List

A new filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirms that asset management firm Valkyrie has adopted BitGo as a custodian for its spot Bitcoin ETF.

Valkyrie’s Spot Bitcoin ETF Now Have Two Custodians

Valkyrie’s BRRR, whose volume recently soared by up to 12%, previously leveraged only the Coinbase Custody service. Per the latest filing, the firm has chosen BitGo as its Bitcoin ETF custodian. However, Valkyrie intends to retain Coinbase custodian service alongside that of BitGo. 

Per the SEC filing, “The Sponsor anticipates utilizing the custodial services of both Coinbase and BitGo to custody the Trust’s bitcoin.”

A significant percentage of the eleven spots Bitcoin ETFs including BlackRock, Bitwise, and ARK 21Shares that were greenlighted by the SEC more than three weeks ago, utilize the custody service offered by Coinbase. BlackRock chose the crypto exchange as the custodian for its spot Bitcoin ETF right when it sent out its application to the SEC last year, cementing an existing relationship between the duo. 

Hashdex is one of the spot Bitcoin ETF issuers that stood out in terms of the custodian for its offering. The asset manager also listed BitGo as its custodian. The sudden decision to have BitGo as a custodian is an indication that some of these ETF issuers are attempting to break the dominance of Coinbase. 

This is in direct response to the fears that Coinbase might be unsafe infrastructurally and that it might be influencing the actions of these spot ETF issuers.

Troubling Prediction on Coinbase Custody

A few days ago, spot Bitcoin ETF issuer Bitwise published the Bitcoin addresses for its BITB holdings, a move that many at the time attributed to a show of transparency. 

The action sparked a thread of reactions which eventually led to a troubling prediction from Samson Mow, a Bitcoin (BTC) Marxist and the CEO of JAN3. Mow stated that crypto custodians like Coinbase failed to invest so much into their Bitcoin infrastructure as a result of “shitcoining”.

As a result, he forecasted that spot Bitcoin ETF issuers start considering the adoption of in-house custody or even migrate their BTC holdings to other custodians. He strongly stated that these asset managers may later go for a Bitcoin-only custodian.

While Valkyrie claims that it would still leverage the Coinbase Custody services alongside BitGo, this may just be the reflection of Mow’s prediction and with this move, more spot Bitcoin ETF issuers are likely to follow suit.