21.co

About 21.co

21.co operates as a holding company with a strategic focus on bridging the gap between traditional finance and the world of cryptocurrency. Founded in 2018 by Hany Rashwan and Ophelia Snyder, the company is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, with offices in New York. The founders' journey began with a shared vision to simplify access to crypto assets for a broader audience. Rashwan, a serial entrepreneur with previous ventures like Payout.com and Ribbon, combined his fintech background with Snyder's experience in investment banking and venture capital to tackle the complexity of crypto investing. Their goal was to create regulated, easy-to-use investment vehicles.

The company's core business revolves around providing access to crypto through exchange-traded products (ETPs) and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions. 21.co serves as the parent company for two primary business units: 21Shares and 21.co Technologies. 21Shares is the world's largest issuer of crypto ETPs, offering a diverse range of products listed on various global stock exchanges. These products allow both retail and institutional investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies in a regulated and secure manner. The firm's revenue model is tied to the management of these financial products, which have seen significant asset accumulation, reaching over $5 billion in assets under management (AUM) by March 2024. 21.co Technologies focuses on developing institutional-grade, on-chain products like tokenized assets and smart contracts.

A key component of the company's offering is its proprietary technology platform, Onyx, which is used to issue and operate ETPs for 21Shares and third-party clients. Beyond ETPs, 21.co has expanded into wrapped tokens, such as 21BTC on the Solana and Ethereum networks, enhancing the utility and cross-chain compatibility of Bitcoin. To bolster transparency, the company integrated Chainlink Proof of Reserve to provide real-time verification of the reserves backing its wrapped tokens. A significant milestone was achieved in September 2022, when 21.co raised $25 million in a funding round led by Marshall Wace, achieving a valuation of $2 billion and becoming Switzerland's largest crypto unicorn.