CoinShares International Ltd profits more than double in fourth quarter amid

, Europe’s largest digital asset management firm, saw profits surge in its fourth quarter amid a boom in crypto markets towards the end of 2020.

In its results for the quarter ended December 31, the company reported adjusted earnings (EBITDA) of £7.9mln, a 147% increase on the prior year, while management fees generated jumped 137% to £7.1mln and trading gains from its capital markets arm surged 116% to £5.2mln.

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For the year as a whole, the firm reported adjusted EBITDA of £22.4mln, a 100% increase on the prior year, while management fees rose 62% to £18.4mln and trading gains climbed 75% to £16.4mln.

CoinShares also reported that its assets under management (AUM) had ballooned during 2020 to £1.74bn at year-end from £0.4bn in 2019, adding that this had continued to increase into 2021 with AUM as of March 30 at US$4.56bn (£3.31bn).

“2020 was a transformative year for CoinShares. Today, we are proud to mark the closing of what by any financial measure will be the most successful year our group has ever had. The figures speak for themselves”, CoinShares chief executive Jean Marie Mognetti said in a statement.

“[The fourth quarter of 2020] will be remembered as a tipping point in the journey of bitcoin and digital assets towards being recognized as a genuine asset class. This utterly transformative way to create, use and consume financial services has started to attract institutional capital at scale”, the CEO added.

The results mark a strong start to the company’s life as a listed company following its listing on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market on March 11 after garnering share subscriptions totalling nearly £58mln in a heavily oversubscribed offering.