Today, 21Shares US LLC (21Shares), an affiliate of 21Shares AG, one of the world’s largest issuers of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), announced its integration of Chainlink Proof of Reserve (PoR) to enhance the transparency of Ethereum (ETH) reserves backing the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF (CETH).
PoR leverages Chainlink’s industry-standard decentralized oracle infrastructure to provide real-time updates for reserves backing digital assets with superior transparency and reliability compared to annual statutory audits, interim audits, and monthly proof of reserves. As a result, PoR establishes a new standard for digital assets, decentralized exchanges, and crypto ETFs.
An ETF is an investment fund that gives investors access to the value of an underlying asset, such as stocks, baskets of currencies, precious metals, and now cryptocurrencies, without directly owning it.
Back in January, U.S. regulators approved spot bitcoin ETFs in what Chainlink co-founder Sergey Nazarov described as a watershed moment for crypto. In February, 21Shares integrated PoR to increase the transparency of bitcoin reserves backing the ARK 21Shares Bitcoin ETF (ARKB). 21Shares launched CETH last week after U.S. regulators gave ETH ETFs the green light.
PoR boosts investor confidence in CETH by making its underlying ETH reserves and reserve history publicly available. The CETH Reserves feed pulls reserve data directly from Coinbase, which directly accesses accounts or vaults holding reserve assets, calculates the total value of reserves, and reports the data onchain via Chainlink oracles.
As the industry-leading decentralized computing platform, Chainlink has securely enabled more than $12 trillion in transaction value while providing a comprehensive set of services that are critical for creating and securing digital assets and scaling onchain finance to billions of global users.
In an official announcement, 21Shares President and co-founder Ophelia Snyder underscored Chainlink’s essential role in accelerating digital asset adoption worldwide.
“US approval of a spot Ethereum ETF serves as further evidence of crypto’s global momentum and adoption, bringing us one step closer to our mission to bridge the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance,” she said. “Chainlink Proof of Reserve has already been helping to enhance the transparency of our spot Bitcoin ETP since its initial launch, making the decision to leverage Chainlink’s industry-standard reserves verification service for our spot Ethereum ETP, CETH, a no-brainer.”
“We’re excited to further our collaboration with 21Shares and support a major milestone in our industry’s history by bringing enhanced transparency to the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF through Chainlink Proof of Reserve,” said Chainlink Labs Chief Business Officer Johann Eid. “21Shares is playing an important role in supporting the adoption of digital assets, and the Chainlink platform is helping financial institutions realize the vision of seamless tokenization on a global scale.”