Crypto Currents: CoinShares, Vine Hill enter business combination agreement

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COINSHARES, VINE HILL ENTER COMBINATION AGREEMENT: CoinShares International (CNSRF) and Vine Hill Capital Investment (VCIC) announced Monday that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement that will result in CoinShares becoming publicly listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market. The transaction is expected to fuel CoinShares’ strategic international expansion and enable U.S. investors to participate more directly in its global growth, including expected growth in the United States. The transaction values CoinShares at $1.2V pre-money on a pro-forma basis, positioning it as one of the largest publicly traded pure-play digital asset managers globally. The boards of directors of both CoinShares and Vine Hill have unanimously approved the combination which is expected to close by the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to shareholder approvals, regulatory approvals, and other customary closing conditions.

Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of CoinShares said, “This transaction represents far more than a change of listing venue from Sweden to the United States. It signals a strategic transition for CoinShares, accelerating our ambition for global leadership, supported by favorable regulatory tailwinds. The case for digital assets as an investment class and blockchain as a transformative technology has reached a decisive inflection point and can no longer be ignored. There is no going back. The U.S. is now serving as the crucible of the digital asset space. By listing in the United States, CoinShares is positioning itself to meet growing investor demand and to participate more fully in the evolution of this new industry. Our European playbook, built and refined over a decade, is proven and effective. We are now deploying this experience to bring a new suite of products to American investors. A U.S. listing will reinforce our credibility, expand our reach, and position us to capture the opportunity in the world’s largest asset management market, home to over half of global assets under management.”

ANALYSTS INITIATE BULLISH COVERAGE: Jefferies initiated coverage of Bullish (BLSH) with a Hold rating and $49 price target. The firm says Bullish is a digital asset platform providing market infrastructure and information services. The company has an attractive growth story tied to rising institutional demand in the crypto market, with the Hold rating reflecting the stock’s valuation, the analyst said.

JPMorgan initiated coverage of Bullish with a Neutral rating and $50 price target. The firm sees the company’s growth be driven by increased institutional interest in the crypto ecosystem, with more tokens and stablecoins trading over time. However, the current business is sub-scale versus the company’s opportunity, and Bullish “is at a critical point of maturity,” the analyst said. JPMorgan cited valuation for the Neutral rating.

Additionally, Bernstein initiated coverage of Bullish with (COIN) following the successful launch its U.S. business in 2026. However, with Bullish trading at 28-times enterprise value to estimated 2027 EBITDA, Bernstein wants to see some early execution success for its U.S debut before recommending the shares.

Canaccord also initiated coverage of Bullish with a Buy rating and $68 price target. The firm says Bullish is a digital asset platform that focuses on institutions, with both a trading exchange and an information services business. The company has evolved into a leading crypto exchange, the analyst said. Canaccord believes Bullish has diversified beyond trading revenue with addition of CoinDesk and CCData, and is also a play on the emerging “stablecoin wars.”

Meanwhile, Rosenblatt initiated coverage of Bullish with a Buy rating and $60 price target. The firm says the “dramatic improvement” in the U.S. political environment is a “huge tailwind” for the crypto sector and driving increasing institutional adoption. Bullish is well positioned to capitalize on this trend and has scaled to over $500B in annual volume without the benefit of access to U.S. clients, the analyst said. Rosenblatt expects the company’s upcoming U.S. launch to be a significant positive catalyst for the shares.

Oppenheimer also initiated coverage of Bullish with a Perform rating. The firm believes Bullish’s unified global order book strategy, expanding subscriptions and services revenue stream, and globally compliant exchanges collectively differentiate its platform and help mitigate risk. Moreover, over the next three years, increased blockchain adoption, improved regulatory clarity, and Bullish’s entry into the U.S. should support its mid-teens revenue CAGR projection. Meanwhile, Bullish’s technology platform should scale at minimal incremental cost, driving adjusted EBITDA margin to expand from 24% in 2024 to an estimated 41% by 2027, generating a 3-year adjusted EBITDA CAGR of 39%, Oppenheimer added. That said, the 36% rise in shares since its IPO and valuation of 50-times 2026 EBITDA keep the firm on the sidelines.

STRATEGY BUYS MORE BITCOIN: In a Monday regulatory filing, Strategy (MSTR) disclosed that the company acquired 1,955 bitcoin for an aggregate purchase price of $217.4M during the period of September 2 to September 7. The company’s aggregate bitcoin holdings amount to 638,460 as of September 7, the filing stated.

GALAXY’S GK8 NAMED AS PROVIDER FOR BDACS: GK8, a Galaxy (GLXY) company, announced Wednesday that BDACS, a regulated institutional digital asset custodian in Korea, has selected GK8 as its custody technology provider to power its institutional digital asset offering. Through GK8’s Impenetrable Custody architecture, BDACS will deliver secure, compliant, and scalable custody services to Korean institutions. The platform will also integrate with Galaxy’s validator infrastructure to enable institutional staking, while also leveraging GK8’s Tokenization Wizard for the issuance and management of tokenized assets, including stablecoins and money market fund tokens.

“Institutions in Korea are demanding custody technology that is both secure and built for scale,” said Lior Lamesh, CEO at GK8. “By choosing GK8, BDACS is giving its clients the strongest possible foundation, combining ironclad security with institutional-quality governance and full regulatory alignment.”

Additionally on Monday, Forward Industries (FORD) announced $1.65B in cash and stablecoin commitments for a private investment in public equity offering led by Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin Capital to initiate a Solana-focused digital asset treasury strategy. C/M Capital Partners, one of the company’s largest existing shareholders, was also a participant in this transaction. Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin will provide both capital and strategic support to help Forward Industries structure and execute its Solana treasury strategy, with the goal of positioning it as the leading publicly traded institutional participant in the Solana ecosystem. Leveraging this leading group of sponsors, Forward Industries aims to generate differentiated onchain returns and build long-term shareholder value through active participation in the Solana ecosystem.

“Solana has emerged as one of the most innovative and widely adopted blockchain ecosystems in the world. Our strategy to build an active Solana treasury program underscores our conviction in the long-term potential of SOL and our commitment to building shareholder value by directly participating in its growth,” said Michael Pruitt, CEO of Forward Industries. “Working with Galaxy, Jump Crypto, and Multicoin, firms with deep expertise and proven track records of investing and building in the Solana ecosystem, gives us a strong foundation to execute this strategy and position the Company as a key player within the digital assets space.”

BAKKT INITIATED WITH BUY RATINGS: Benchmark initiated coverage of Bakkt (BKKT) with a Buy rating and $13 price target. Bakkt is “poised for a fresh start” after a period of restructuring with a streamlined focus and reset growth trajectory, said the analyst, who calls the divestiture of its custody business and the pending sale of its legacy loyalty business “a decisive exit from capital-intensive, non-core operations.” The company is refocusing around three high-conviction initiatives under new leadership: a revamped “brokerage-in-a-box” solution, a new bitcoin treasury strategy and a stablecoin payments initiative, the analyst noted.

Additionally, Clear Street initiated coverage of Bakkt with a Buy rating and $14 price target. Despite a 63% year-to-date share decline, the firm believes the risk-reward has now skewed positively as Bakkt is shedding non-core businesses, Loyalty & Custody, and repositioning itself as a lean, blockchain-native payments platform, the analyst said. Clear Street added that it sees consolidated revenue for Bakkt growing at a 14% CAGR through 2027, supported by steady performance in Crypto Services and accelerating momentum from the DTR platform.

OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:

• BTIG raises Hut 8 (HUT) price target to $33 from $25, IREN (IREN) price target to $32 from $22
• Bitmine Immersion (BMNR) reports crypto, cash holdings exceeding $9.21B, makes $20M investment into Eightco (ORBS)
• Cboe Global Markets (CBOE) to launch Cboe Continuous futures for Bitcoin, Ether
• Nasdaq (NDAQ) plans to buy $50M of Gemini (GEMI) stock, partners to offer crypto custody, staking
• Canaan (CAN) partners with Luxor to expand institutional miner financing
• Circle Internet (CRCL) assumed with a Perform at Oppenheimer
• Coinbase acquires Sensible team

CRYPTO STOCK PLAYS: Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital (BTBT), Coinbase, Core Scientific (CORZ), Greenidge Generation (GREE), Mara Holdings (MARA), Strategy, Riot Platforms (RIOT) and TeraWulf (WULF).

PRICE ACTION: As time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 4% this week to $115,175 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.