CoinShares International Limited, the leading European asset manager specializing in digital assets with ~US$10 billion in AuM, announced the acquisition of Bastion Asset Management Limited, a London-based, FCA-regulated crypto-focused alternative investment manager. The acquisition significantly strengthens CoinShares’ actively managed capabilities, as the firm continues its evolution into a comprehensive digital asset management platform. Following completion of the acquisition, Bastion will be fully integrated into CoinShares, with its strategies, team, and capabilities becoming part of the expanded CoinShares platform. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. 

Strategic vision: building a digital asset management one-stop shop

The acquisition of Bastion represents another step towards CoinShares’ strategic objective to become a global leading asset manager specializing in digital assets. By combining passive beta products like ETPs with sophisticated actively managed strategies, CoinShares aims to offer investors a complete solution spanning the entire digital asset investment spectrum.

“This acquisition perfectly aligns with our vision to provide our global investor base with comprehensive digital asset management solutions” said Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO and Co-Founder of CoinShares. “Having worked closely with Bastion over the course of the last year, we have experienced firsthand the performance of their strategies and witnessed their expertise in systematic digital asset investing. Bastion’s institutional-grade approach and proven track record in quantitative alpha generation significantly enhances our ability to serve sophisticated investors seeking actively managed digital asset solutions.”

“We are delighted to be joining the CoinShares group and to become a new part of its digital asset investment solution,” said Philip Scott, CEO and Co-Founder of Bastion. “Over the last three years we have built a strong market neutral strategy and a broad and growing range of investors.  This acquisition will enable us to further scale our investor base, accelerate the build out of our innovative alternative program whilst increasing our investor outreach.” 

Enhancing active asset management capabilities

Bastion brings to CoinShares a market-leading quantitative alpha investment approach applied to digital assets.

As part of the transaction, Fred Desobry (Bastion CIO) with over 17 years of experience in systematic investing and quantitative research, and Philip Scott (Bastion CEO / Co-Founder) with over 25 years of financial services experience and extensive operational expertise, will join CoinShares upon completion and support CoinShares’ continued scaling and expansion initiatives, serving a broad range of institutional clients.

Accelerating U.S. Market expansion

Combining Bastion’s alpha generation expertise with CoinShares’ registered Investment Advisor (1940 Act) status will enable the development of sophisticated, actively managed funds in the U.S. market. This capability establishes CoinShares as a uniquely positioned provider of institutional-grade, actively managed digital asset products, clearly differentiating it from traditional asset managers and crypto infrastructure players. 

Source: CoinShares