Bitwise Asset Management has acquired Attestant, an Ethereum staking service provider with $3.7 billion in assets under management, marking a new move into the cryptocurrency staking space.
Bitwise Asset Management, the company known for its Bitcoin spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), is officially entering the Ethereum staking space through the acquisition of Attestant, a staking service provider.
This information was published by Bloomberg on November 13, showing Bitwise's strategic expansion beyond its current core business segments in the cryptocurrency market. Attestant currently manages $3.7 billion in assets for non-US organizations, focusing on providing Ether staking services.
Source: X
The deal, which comes with undisclosed financial terms, will bring Attestant’s entire 11-person team to Bitwise. Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley called it “a new chapter” for the company, highlighting growing customer expectations for scale and diversity of services from companies in the space.
Strengthening position in crypto staking
The acquisition of Attestant comes as Bitwise has been actively expressing interest in providing products and services related to cryptocurrency staking. Just one day earlier, on November 12, Bitwise announced a staking exchange-traded product (ETP) for the Aptos token, called Bitwise Aptos Staking ETP (APTB).
The product is expected to be listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange on November 19. APTB, backed by the Aptos token, is designed to generate approximately 4.7% in net fees, which are accumulated directly in the ETP. This is Bitwise's second product in the European Total Return portfolio, following the Ether staking ETP.
Steve Berryman, chief business officer at Attestant, has previously highlighted staking as a strength of Ethereum, allowing ETF investors to earn around 4% per year through exposure to ETH. Although the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has previously rejected a proposal to incorporate staking into an ETF, Berryman believes that this is just a temporary delay and that staking will be integrated into ETFs in the future.
