Report: Kraken Subsidiary Quietly Benefiting from Multi-Billion ETF Boom
Kraken, a leading US-based cryptocurrency exchange, has a subsidiary called CF Benchmarks that is reaping the benefits of the recent surge in spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). CF Benchmarks, based in London, provides reference data for approximately $24 billion worth of crypto ETFs. Bloomberg reports that the company is quietly profiting from the launch of BTC ETFs, as it licenses its benchmarks to ETF issuers, such as BlackRock, in exchange for fees that increase with the issuer’s assets under management. The US Securities and Exchange Commission approved spot market BTC ETFs in January, and they have also recently debuted in Hong Kong. CF Benchmarks CEO Sui Chung predicts that BTC ETFs will gain approval in Israel and South Korea, where ETFs are popular for long-term savings and digital assets have gained significant adoption. Despite expecting $5 billion in assets from spot market BTC ETFs, CF Benchmarks ended up with four times that amount. Chung anticipates another $1 billion in assets for Hong Kong BTC ETFs by the end of the year. With its revenue projected to grow in the “mid-double digits” this year, CF Benchmarks is poised for further success. Currently, Bitcoin is trading at $63,433, experiencing a slight increase for the day.