Thank you for standing by and welcome to the CoinShares Q2 Earnings Broadcast. All participants dialing in are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there'll be a question-and-answer session. You can submit your questions via the postbox below the video on the platform. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I'd now like to hand the conference over to your host, Jeri-Lea Brown. Thank you.
Thank you, operator. I would like to welcome you all to the CoinShares 2025 Q2 Earnings Call and Webcast. Speaking for management today will be Jean-Marie Mognetti, Chief Executive Officer, and Richard Nash, Chief Financial Officer. All those joining today are encouraged to log in to the live event, where you'll be able to view the accompanying presentation during today's call. Alternatively, the results and a copy of the presentation are available to download from the investor relations section of the CoinShares' website. A replay of the webcast will be available for 30 days following the live call, and a transcript will be posted on the company's website as soon as it is available. Following the presentation, we will host a short Q&A via the webcast platform. Should you wish to submit a question to the management team, please provide your name and company affiliation.
We will do our best to get to as many as we can within the allotted time. Lastly, our safe harbor statement. CoinShares would like to remind everyone that, except for historical information contained herein, statements made on today's call and webcast that would constitute forward-looking statements are based on currently available information. The company assumes no responsibility to update such forward-looking statements, and I would like to point you to the risk factors associated with our business, which are detailed in our prospectus. At this time, I will turn the call over to Jean-Marie.
Good afternoon, and welcome to CoinShares Q2 2025 update. As we continue our journey toward listing on the U.S. Exchange, I want to take you through our story, where we've come from, where we stand today, and where we're heading in the fast-changing world of global financial services. If you are looking for my broader market views, you can always find them on the Node, our platform for market insight. Today, I really want to focus on our results, our strategy, and the bigger picture beyond the numbers. Before we get into Q2 performance, it's worth revisiting the foundation we've built, because that foundation explains how we've been able to grow and adapt through every cycle, creating a crypto-cycle resilient company. Our story has three clear phases. Phase I begins when we bought XBT Provider out of bankruptcy in Sweden, a small business managing just about $10 million in assets.
For us, that wasn't just an opportunistic buy; it was a strategic move. By providing liquidity to XBT Provider and creating certainty for our clients, we turned a distressed asset into one that investors could trust and a success story we all know about. In the process, we built the basis for what would become our capital markets division. By the 2021 bull market peak, XBT Provider had grown to the largest open-ended exchange-traded product tracking digital asset anywhere in the world, with over $5 billion in assets. That wasn't pure luck; that was foresight and a good dose of solid execution. Phase II started in March 2021, with our listing on Nasdaq Stockholm. This was our public commitment to transparency and high standards, the values that shape how institutions and the wider market see us. Earlier that year, we launched our physical crypto ETP platform across Europe, CoinShares Physical.
Our competitors had a two-year head start, but our goal was clear: market leader in Europe. Today, despite being challenged by a company like BlackRock, we are this leader, with $440 million of net inflow at the close of Q2 2025. Phase III began in 2024 with our acquisition of Valkyrie. It was a low-cost deal, again a non-performing asset, but one with a very high strategic value. More importantly, it gave us our own U.S. issuing capacity in the U.S. , putting us in a prime position for the expanding U.S. crypto ETF market at a time when the regulatory climate is improving. To recap: Phase I, leadership in open-ended crypto ETPs. Phase II, defending and winning European market leadership. Phase III, expansion into the U.S., the largest asset management market in the world.
This expansion matters, not just because we want to be a global franchise, but because the U.S. manages over half of our global assets. As regulations become more supportive, with initiatives like the GENIUS Act and the Clarity Act, it is the right time to make not only our products but also our shares available in that market. Now, let's turn to Q2 performance. Our asset management revenues for the quarter are roughly in line with Q1, even though our assets under management were significantly higher at the quarter end. That's because early in Q2, the markets faced the Liberation Day tariffs, followed by mid-May weakness. Prices dropped sharply before bouncing back in June. The real story of this quarter is our capital market division. Revenues there stayed steady throughout the volatility.
That stability reflects the risk management change we made during the 2022 bear market, transforming the capital market from a simple trading desk into the research and development lab and operation engine of our business. The message is simple: our strategy is working, and our position is getting stronger. On that note, and without any further delay, let me hand over to Richard Nash, our Chief Financial Officer, for a deeper dive into Q2 numbers. Richard, over to you.
Thanks very much, Jean-Marie. Q2 has been another solid quarter for the group, against a backdrop which is effectively the exact reverse of what we saw during Q1. As a reminder, Q1 saw the most significant quarterly decline in digital asset prices since early 2022. Despite this, we delivered a solid and stable performance. Q2, however, saw excellent price recovery in BTC and, to a similar extent, also Ethereum. The impact of these price movements over the first half of 2025 has resulted in top-line performance that's actually rather consistent quarter- on- quarter, with two key differences. First of all, the directional exposure we have been building through the accumulation of our BTC and Solana treasury position has performed extremely well in Q2, resulting in unrealized gains of $7.8 million.
Secondly, and more importantly, we are ending the quarter with a strong AUM position and a market that is indicative of a very promising second half to the financial year. New all-time highs post-quarter end have resulted in the group's highest monthly close of non-fee-paying AUM since its inception at the end of July. For Q2 2025, our asset management platform delivered $30 million in management fees, a modest increase on the $28.3 million earned in the same quarter in 2024. Capital markets contributed a further $11.3 million in gains in other income, slightly lower than the $14.6 million recorded in the prior year period. Movements within our principal investments portfolio were immaterial, mainly reflecting the transfer of digital assets previously held in this portfolio into capital markets and treasury during the quarter.
The group adjusted EBITDA came in at $26.3 million, slightly lower than the $34 million reported in Q2 2024. However, this figure was inflated by some non-recurring items related to the FTX sale and also the write-off of Flowbank. Importantly, underlying profitability remains very strong, and margins are very consistent. The profit after tax was $32.4 million, up from $31.8 million in Q2 2024, and it's this figure that's supported by the $7.8 million treasury gain that we saw. This has resulted in total comprehensive income of $33 million and earnings per share for the quarter of $0.49. From a cost perspective, the group remains tightly managed. While costs are broadly consistent with last year, admin expenses increased compared to Q1 2025, reflecting targeted investments into our U.S. expansion and preparatory work for the potential change in listing venue.
Now, let's take a closer look at our asset management platform, starting with the XBT Provider. On the XBT Provider side, we generated $22.1 million in management fees, with net outflows slowing down in the quarter to $126 million. This is a small reduction versus the prior quarter's outflow of $154 million. This outflow, however, is dwarfed by the upside seen from price appreciation in the quarter, resulting in closing AUM at the end of June of $3.45 billion. It is also noted that the unique holder base in XBT Provider remains very solid, and we stay committed to expanding in our core Nordic markets where we see ongoing opportunity, hence the launch of a number of additional products under the XBT umbrella during Q2. CoinShares Physical had an excellent quarter at $6.8 million in fees, being its highest on record.
While the platform has obviously benefited from price action, this is further supported by strong flows in the quarter of $170 million, resulting in a closing AUM of $2.06 billion. We note that the flows in CoinShares Physical being in excess of the outflows seen on XBT, and this is a trend which has been evident for the whole of 2025 so far. One of the core goals of CS Physical on its establishment was to ensure that it was able to evolve to a point where it was more than offsetting any outflows seen on our legacy product, XBT. We hope with our continued efforts, this trend will continue throughout the remainder of 2025. Our U.S. platform delivered $500,000 in fees. We saw a modest amount of net outflow across the U.S. products in the quarter of $4.7 million.
Despite these outflows, the WGMI index delivered a standout performance, achieving gains of 78% during the quarter. In addition, Q2 marked a strategic milestone: the removal of the Valkyrie brand name from the U.S. products, formally unifying the business under the CoinShares brand across investor, advisor, and institutional audiences in the U.S. Finally, the Block Index generated $0.6 million in management fees, but has ended the quarter very well in terms of performance, with AUM just over $1 billion, up from $713 million at the end of Q1. Bringing all of the above together, we generated $30 million in management fees this quarter, up from $28.3 million in the same quarter of last year. Very importantly, we are ending the quarter on a high in terms of AUM, which we believe is setting the tone for Q3.
The total fee-paying AUM ended the quarter at $6.6 billion, up from $5.23 billion at the end of Q1. This is an increase of circa 26% in just a short three-month period. As always, our weekly fund flow reports and daily AUM attestations via LedgerLens ensure we maintain transparency and trust, and we encourage you to take a look at these if you so wish. Now, moving on to capital markets, and before we look at the results themselves, just to reiterate once again some changes to our financials that we highlighted last quarter, being that gains and losses associated with the group's BTC, ETH, and Solana treasury holdings are now separated out from capital markets results and are reported independently as treasury movements on an ongoing basis. The capital markets business unit itself, however, for Q2 2025, delivered another solid performance, generating total income and gains of $11.3 million.
The key contributors to Q2 2025 performance were as follows. First, we have ETH staking. This has remained a principal driver of the capital markets income, generating $4.3 million during the quarter, which is comparable to Q1, but down slightly on Q2 2024. Staking continues to provide a reliable, recurring source of top-line income for the wider business. Liquidity provisioning income amounted to $1.5 million for the quarter. This represents an increase versus last year and also versus Q1. Such an increase is consistent with historical patterns during periods of digital asset price increases, when trading and redemption activity typically increase. Delta neutral trading strategies delivered $2.2 million during the quarter, while digital asset lending came in slightly higher at $2.6 million. The direct costs associated with capital markets have continued to be stable, contributing in turn to solid and steady gross profit margins for the business unit.
The capital markets business unit continues to demonstrate resilience through a diversified range of revenue and income-generating activities, maintaining strong operational performance even during periods of lower digital asset prices. The group remains focused on driving further expansion within capital markets as market conditions continue to evolve. If we just take a look at the quarterly performance in context at the adjusted EBITDA level, we can see that what we achieved in Q2 is slightly down on Q1, but it's important to remember that this figure doesn't include our solid treasury gains of $7.8 million, which have bolstered the group's bottom line meaningfully, as can be seen within our full financials. The combined top-line totals of asset management and capital markets, being the core of our business, are circa $41.5 million.
Keeping in mind the price recovery we've seen in digital assets in Q2 and also new all-time highs post-quarter end, H1 represents a solid foundation on which to build out the remainder of the financial year. We continue to deliver stable profits, maintain solid margins, and grow our presence across key markets. For the rest of the year, we remain well-positioned to benefit from this momentum with a focus on our product expansion, geographic growth, and our operational scalability. A quick recap before we move on to questions. From a financial perspective, we posted solid revenue gains and other income across our core business units. We maintained stability in cost base and protected a healthy margin, resulting in an adjusted EBITDA of $26.3 million and total comprehensive income of $33 million.
From an operational perspective, our CS Physical product suite continues to show dominance in Europe, and flows in the product suite have more than offset negative impact on AUM from XBT outflows in H1. Additionally, we've launched seven more products within XBT in the quarter. We are continuing to pay a solid dividend to our shareholders and have already seen a number of positive steps since the end of the quarter, including those of a regulatory nature for our French entity, more products launched, and a market which stands us in good stead for the second half of 2025. As a reminder for everyone that's on the call today, full detail on everything we've covered and more is in the Q2 earnings report that we released earlier today, and we encourage you to go and take a look at that. I will hand over for questions.
Thank you, Richard. We've got a couple of questions from Russell Newton of GABI Ventures . The first one is, capital markets expenses also much higher than the previous quarters. Please, could you explain why?
Sure. I think there's two questions together here. You're also asking the same question around asset management, Russell, as to why the expenses have gone up. If you actually look at our admin expenses at the group level, quarter- on- quarter compared to last year is very, very similar. We had $10.3 million for Q2 2025 and $10.5 million for Q2 2024. What actually changed, and we touched upon this in the Q1 earnings broadcast, is the way in which we are allocating the costs, the group costs across the business units. We changed that methodology moving into 2025. While the overall costs of the business have been fairly static, the portion of the centralized costs that we were previously not allocating to asset management or capital markets are now being allocated there. In terms of overall spend, no real movement year- on- year.
$10.3 million as this year Q2 versus $10.5 million last year, but just the allocation and methodology has changed.
Thank you very much, Richard. We've got another question here from Johan Bunden, who's a private banker. This is for you, Jean-Marie. Why did you pause the expansion of your BTC holdings?
Thanks for the question, Johan. The reason I really paused it is that we took the decision to manage our exposition to not become a treasury company. It was a very, I would say, assessed decision-making process. We looked at how much volatility we wanted to impact our result from the volatility derived from having cryptocurrency on our balance sheet. We saw that following a number of stress testing analyses that around $30 million was the maximum level we should be having given our current quarterly earnings. We have $25 million, give or take, on BTC, $6 million worth of Solana, and a little bit of Ethereum. I think that's where we're going to keep it for the time being.
Thanks very much, Jean-Marie. We've got another question here for you from Kevin Dede, who's an analyst at HCW. He's asking, regarding comments about building the U.S. team patiently, what capacities are you hoping to fill specifically? What's your internal timeline for execution? How does it correspond to CoinShares' ambition to list in the U.S? What specific progress has been made on that target? Sorry, there's quite a bit there.
Okay, we're going to unpack all this question in one question. Thanks, Kevin. Passionately in the U.S., yes, passionately because the U.S. market is not opening as fast as people expect. The U.S. market makes often announcements, but the reality is that the SEC didn't approve a single S-1 since the new administration has come in. There is progress in that sense. There is progress on the framework that the exchange can list. There is a new product from CoinShares coming out to the market in September. It is public information, so I'm not betraying any information. You just need to go and edge our website to figure it out. We're building patiently. We have a new CCO who just joined.
That's the first CoinShares hire CCO in the U.S., which is basically a lawyer and a compliance officer to help us on a full-time basis navigate that and also help us see how we will operate the business between Europe and the U.S. and build the narratives there. In terms of people we're filling in, we hired this year a couple of people to help us with distribution. We hired a bit of marketing. We are completing our team as we go, but it's really kind of step by step. With regards to the U.S. Listing, I won't be able to give more information than what I gave already in the report. It is something which is very much front and center on our mind. We are conscious of the market condition and the market timing, and we hope to be able to keep executing as quickly as possible.
Thank you very much, Jean-Marie. I've got another question here from Kevin at HCW. He's saying, given your commentary about July and August performance, the passage of the GENIUS Act and impending Clarity Act, what more regulatory clarity and market conditions are you looking for regarding further product launch on the CoinShares platform?
As mentioned previously, it's not so much what we can launch. If you look at it, we have a Solana ETF pending approval. We have a Ripple ETF pending approval. The SEC is not approving things right now. They just keep delaying it, which is fine. We know why. They are waiting to get the framework in place before approving any new things. I think giving three to four months, you probably have some new things being listed, but CoinShares already has products in the pipeline. If the SEC goes as quickly as possible, we may have three product lines by the end of the year in the U.S., additional product lines by the end of the year in the U.S. The pipeline is pretty full for the size of the team we're having, which is still very small.
Thank you very much, Jean-Marie. I've got another question here from James Rutherford, who's the Chairman at Smartframe Technologies. I'm going to direct this one to Richard. He's asking, could you please walk us through the free cash flow generated in the quarter? As we go forward, I imagine the business will generate substantial cash flow. What would you expect a cash conversion to be ex-investments? With thoughts on a U.S. Listing, does this affect what you can do with the cash, i.e. buybacks, etc.?
Okay, I think the easiest way to think that it would be a proxy for the free cash flow generated in the quarter is to look at our group performance and APMs table, which shows the performance split by business unit. Effectively, if you take the combination of the asset management revenue and the capital markets gains and other income, but adjust for CoinShares XBT Provider, that's effectively all free cash flow generated other than when we're recognizing those revenues. CoinShares XBT Provider, because of the way that we choose to hedge that product, we release the cash on redemption. The easiest way to get a good proxy for the quarterly cash generation is to take our total revenue gains and other income, adjust it for XBT Provider, and then remove the costs. Yes, we are very cash-generative at the moment.
In terms of what that will be going forward, it's obviously a function of the market and the performances of the business. As alluded to on the presentation, we started H2 very well, very well indeed across all of our activities. Given that this overview calculator is presented to you, you can get a good proxy for how that might be cash-generative and what that number may be.
Thank you very much, Richard. That appears to be all the questions that we have for today. Thank you, everybody, for dialing in today. That concludes our livestreams. Thank you very much.