Leah Wald is a businesswoman with a vast array of experience both within and outside the crypto world. Just before the conclusion of her teen years, she served as a consultant at the World Bank’s African arm. She was a founding advisor of the fashion entity Naadam, a financial analyst at Vital Financial, and a partner at Lucid Investment Strategies, among a number of other previous positions.
Serving as Valkyrie’s CEO, Wald intertwines crypto and mainstream finance. Valkyrie functions as an asset management outfit that made multiple headlines in the crypto world throughout 2021.
Valkyrie took a number of notable forward strides in 2021 with Wald steering the ship. The firm scooped up $10 million from an array of investors as part of a Series A funding move. Investors included BTC Media, 10X Capital and UTXO Management, among other firms, as well as Litecoin creator Charlie Lee.
Valkyrie also launched a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in 2021. A Bitcoin futures-backed ETF from an entity called ProShares went live on the New York Stock Exchange in the latter half of October, bringing to market the first Bitcoin trading product of its kind and thus meshing the traditional world with the premier token. Just a few days later, Valkyrie launched a similar product on the Nasdaq called the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF.
Wald jumped on a number of interviews in the latter half of 2021. She noted that Bitcoin ETFs give mainstream players a more traditional avenue to access Bitcoin as an asset. She also mentioned a Bitcoin spot ETF as a longer-term goal, with Bitcoin futures-backed ETFs as a stepping stone.
Additionally, Valkyrie set another Bitcoin-focused product into motion on the Nasdaq in December. Called the Valkyrie Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF, the product will include securities of United States-based custodians, crypto exchanges, mining firms and other organizations that have Bitcoin on their balance sheets.
Given Valkyrie’s moves in 2021, this year could prove to be another active one for the firm as it marches forward in a fresh calendar period.
Crypto regulation surfaced as a major point of focus in 2021 on a number of levels. A good portion of discussion on crypto regulation were on requirements in the infrastructure bill that the U.S. government was looking to pass during 2021, with the bill ultimately succeeding. Bitcoin ETF approval in the country, however, has been a sticking point for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for years.
During her interviews in 2021, Wald stated that she and her team were keeping tabs on what the SEC would be comfortable with, and then acting on a product that fits the commission’s position. The approval of Valkyrie’s Bitcoin futures ETF may hint at the success of that strategy, which could help in the fight for a spot Bitcoin ETF down the road.
In December 2021, the SEC denied the Valkyrie Bitcoin Fund — a spot Bitcoin ETF. Backed by actual Bitcoin, spot Bitcoin ETFs are a type of product that has not yet seen approval in the U.S. What regulators will eventually decide on such products is hard to say, but Wald is expected to be making a strong push for their approval while coming up with other mainstream crypto products in 2022.
Investor
