Stockholm, October 16th, 2024 - Virtune, a Swedish regulated digital asset manager and issuer of crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs), is announcing a collaboration with the Polkadot Network, funded through the Polkadot OpenGov Decentralized Treasury. Through this partnership, Virtune aims to promote and raise awareness of its Virtune Staked Polkadot ETP throughout the Nordics. Since its inception, Virtune has rapidly grown in the Nordic market, earning recognition for its educational initiatives, regulated status, and transparency.

The company has also swiftly expanded its product portfolio. One of these products, Virtune Staked Polkadot ETP, was listed on Nasdaq Stockholm on January 10, 2024. The product is 100% physically backed by DOT and offers investors exposure to Polkadot through a regulated structure, along with the benefits of staking, providing an additional 4% annual yield before fees on top of Polkadot's own performance. It is accessible for both institutional and retail investors in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark through banks and brokers, including Avanza and Nordnet, among others.

About Polkadot

Explore the transformative potential of Polkadot, the next-generation blockchain platform designed to power a fully interconnected digital future. Polkadot stands out by enabling seamless interoperability across various blockchains, allowing for secure message and value transfers without relying on third parties.

About Virtune Staked Polkadot

Virtune Staked Polkadot ETP provides exposure to Polkadot with enhanced returns through staking. This product includes secure and efficient staking directly from cold-storage with Virtune's custodian Coinbase, with staking rewards providing 4% annual yield continuously being added to the ETP which is reflected in the daily price of the ETP.

1:1 exposure: Easy and secure 1:1 exposure to PolkadotPassive Income: Earn staking rewards from the included staking without any efforts requiredSecurity: Non-custodial staking from cold-storage, the DOT tokens are never sent to any third partyLiquidity: The product can be traded freely without lock-up periodsPhysical backing: Fully backed by DOT stored securely with Virtune's custodian CoinbaseRegulated and accessible: Traded on a regulated market in the form of Nasdaq Stockholm as straightforwardly as trading a stock and can be held in ISK or capital insurance accounts for tax benefits About staking

Staking is the process of actively participating in transaction validation on a blockchain that uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Participants lock up a certain amount of crypto assets to support the network's security and operations. In return, they earn rewards in the form of additional crypto assets.

Polkadot OpenGov

Polkadot OpenGov is a fully decentralized governance system designed to serve the Polkadot Network and all holders of the DOT token, Polkadot's native crypto asset. Within OpenGov, any DOT holder can submit a referenda (proposal) requesting funds from the Polkadot Treasury to aid the ecosystem's evolution and growth. The fate of each proposal is determined by a vote from all DOT token holders. OpenGov allocates its Treasury Funds, which are accumulated through worldwide network usage, to proposals that are successfully submitted and approved by the Polkadot community.

Christopher Kock, CEO of Virtune:

"Following a long and collaborative process with Polkadot Opengov, we are both pleased and humbled to have earned the trust of the Polkadot community to lead Polkadot adoption in the Nordic financial market. We recognize a significant knowledge gap in this region regarding Polkadot's great capabilities, and we are committed to bridging this gap through a comprehensive campaign. This campaign will include educational content, as well as outdoor and digital advertising, and events aimed at educating about Polkadot's fundamentals and the opportunities it presents, particularly how investments can be made into Polkadot's native token DOT combined with staking rewards via a regulated exchange-traded product. We launched our Virtune Staked Polkadot earlier in 2024, and we are encouraged by the growing interest from investors across the Nordics.”

The purpose of the campaign

The goal of this campaign is to enhance awareness of Polkadot's technology, its potential, and its suitability as an investment when integrated into traditional portfolios. Through the campaign and Virtune's regulated exchange-traded product, Virtune Staked Polkadot ETP, both institutional and private investors will be informed and enlightened about Polkadot and its vibrant ecosystem, which includes all the projects building on-chain. The campaign aims to attract a significant number of new investors to Polkadot across the Nordics, while also providing educational content about Polkadot to the financial industry.

The content of the campaign

The campaign will introduce a new scale of marketing efforts, combining outdoor advertising in high-visibility areas such as Stockholm's financial district, subway stations, and the Arlanda Express, among other prominent locations. This approach is designed to significantly boost the visibility of Polkadot and Virtune's Staked Polkadot ETP. In addition, digital advertising will feature Polkadot across various digital channels. Furthermore, the campaign will include large-scale events focused on educating attendees about Polkadot both as a blockchain technology and as an investment opportunity.

The campaign aims to showcase a range of dynamic technologies that demonstrate Polkadot's valuable role in the evolution of web3, where it has made significant strides. Polkadot is exhibiting substantial progress in various sectors, including gaming, with companies like Mythical Games migrating their platforms to the Polkadot blockchain. Furthermore, Polkadot supports fast and cost-effective transactions with stablecoins and is continuing to show its strengths in other emerging areas within decentralized finance, real-world assets, data storage, and artificial intelligence (AI).

Press contact

Christopher Kock, CEO Virtune AB (Publ)

Christopher@virtune.com

+46 70 073 45 64

Virtune with its headquarters in Stockholm is a fully regulated Swedish digital asset manager and issuer of crypto exchange traded products on regulated European exchanges. With regulatory compliance, strategic collaborations with industry leaders and our proficient team, we empower investors on a global level to access innovative and sophisticated investment products that are aligned with the evolving landscape of the global crypto market.

Cryptocurrency investments are associated with high risk. Virtune does not provide investment advice. Investments are made at your own risk. Securities may increase or decrease in value, and there is no guarantee that you will recover your invested capital. Please read the prospectus, KID, terms at www.virtune.com.