Crypto kingpin Galaxy Digital just scored a win, acquiring a chunk of a blockchain firm to beef up its Ethereum staking power by nearly half.
In a move to significantly boost its Ethereum holdings for staking, publicly traded crypto company Galaxy Digital, led by Michael Novogratz, acquired most of the assets from blockchain node operator CryptoManufaktur (CMF).
While the exact details of the deal were not revealed, it is expected to increase Galaxy Digital’s Ethereum assets under stake by around 43%.
According to the press release, Thorsten Behrens, the founder of CMF, will join Galaxy’s blockchain infrastructure team alongside two other engineers. This team offers staking and blockchain validator services to qualified investors, protocols, and digital-asset platforms.
Zane Glauber, head of Galaxy’s blockchain infrastructure team, stated that the company is quickly enhancing its blockchain infrastructure and staking capabilities to deliver enterprise-grade technical expertise and support to key areas of the digital-asset ecosystem.
“Our acquisition of CMF is an important milestone that significantly enhances our position as a leading technical partner to protocols and builders.”
CMF, founded in 2020, initially focused on building infrastructure for the blockchain oracle project Chainlink. It later expanded to include automated proof-of-stake node deployment infrastructure on Ethereum. The deal involves approximately $1 billion in Ethereum assets under stake, increasing Galaxy’s total to $3.3 billion.
According to crypto analysts, Galaxy Digital published a comprehensive report on anticipated ETH ETF inflows and detailed the various dynamics influencing ETH supply.
The report summarized that it was reasonable to expect 33% of the inflows seen in BTC ETFs, suggesting monthly flows exceeding $1 billion.
Galaxy has been expanding its blockchain infrastructure capabilities, complementing its primary business lines of crypto trading and investment management. Mike Novogratz, a prominent figure in the crypto industry and a regular on business networks like CNBC, has a strong Wall Street background, having served as an executive at Goldman Sachs and Fortress Investment Group.
