The company would have a greater diversity of options for their corporate investors. They currently offer their customers up to nine cryptocurrency-related funds.

In recent days, cryptocurrency investment services company Grayscale revealed that it is considering new crypto-asset-related funds. The growing demand from corporate investors could lead the company to diversify its options for its corporate customers.

Grayscale is considering other options with lower market capitalization than Bitcoin (BTC) or the Ethereum’ cryptocurrency Ether (ETH). That expansion would include decentralized finance (DeFi) projects, which have given much to talk about last year.

The company announced that have their sights set on the following crypto assets: Aave (AAVE), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Compound (COMP), Cosmos (ATOM), Decentraland (MANA ), EOS (EOS), Filecoin (FIL), Flow (FLOW), and Livepeer (LPT).

They could also open funds for investors to put capital in MakerDao (MKR), Monero (XMR), Numeraire (NMR), Polkadot (DOT), Reserve Rights (RSR), Stacks (STX), Sushiswap (SUSHI), Synthetix ( SNX), Tezos (XTZ), The Graph (GRT), Uniswap (UNI), and Yearn Finance (YFI).

Regarding this announcement, Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said that the assessment includes all of the crypto assets abovementioned. However, he stressed that not all cryptocurrencies will have a particular investment fund. He explained that the firm is analyzing them to expand its offer and improve access to institutional funds.

The executive expressed that they want to expand their product offering to provide a better service to their investors. He added that they seek to identify bold, interesting, and innovative opportunities that meet the demand from their investors. He argued that the reason for this is that “the universe of cryptocurrencies is constantly evolving.”

Grayscale Leads Funds in Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies

Grayscale currently offers its corporate customers up to nine cryptocurrency-related funds. The company manages trusts that include funds in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ether, Ethereum Classic (ETC), Horizen (ZEN), Litecoin (LTC), Stellar Lummens (XLM), Zcash (ZEC), and a mixed fund of crypto assets called the Digital Large Cap Fund.

A few days ago, Grayscale reported that they manage a total of more than USD 36 billion in their cryptocurrency funds. The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, the largest fund of firm, has almost 650,000 BTC, which is equivalent to more than USD 29,000 million.

In the last week, Grayscale made official their interest in opening funds in other cryptocurrencies. However, the company had already applied to the Delaware authorities for authorization to create funds in Chainlink, Tezos, Decentraland, Basic Attention Token, Livepeer, and Filecoin.

The growing interest from corporate investors in cryptocurrencies becomes evident in Grayscale’s move. The price of most digital assets has risen under the leadership of Bitcoin. That is attracting the attention of a greater number of wealthy investors, which could influence market prices.

It is a fact that the number of institutional investors interested in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is increasingly growing. For that reason, investment services companies like Grayscale are trying to provide them with more options that meet their demand.

By Alexander Salazar

CI Global Asset Management is an undisputable leader in the cryptocurrency market, and Ethereum is the primary candidate for web 3.0

CI Global Asset Management, one of Canada’s largest investment management companies, presented on February 24 its intention to launch the first exchange-traded investment fund (ETF) for the cryptocurrency Ethereum, Ether (ETH). The new ETF will carry the symbol ETHX on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

Ci Global Asset Management and stated Kurt MacAlpine, CEO of CI Financial.” said that Cryptocurrencies are transforming the financial world, and they are excited to launch the world’s first ETF, which sets its investments directly through Ether. Ether is now one of the most valued cryptocurrencies.

“With these funds, we are reducing the sticking points that investors have traditionally faced when buying and holding cryptocurrencies. The CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF is an important addition to that line as this emerging asset class gains increasing interest and validation,” added MacAlpine.

There is a wave of institutional demand at a global level for cryptocurrencies. Through these funds, companies can gain more exposure for these assets with regulated platforms.

CI GAM, a CI Financial Corp subsidiary, is an independent company that offers global asset management services and a wide range of investment services. It manages equity of approximately USD 231.8 billion, according to the statement.

An Increasing Interest in Cryptocurrency Investments Grows

Galaxy Digital Holdings Chairman and CEO Mike Novogratz talked about how Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency is the first candidate for the Web 3.0 foundation and Ether investors’ favorite to bring exposure to the decentralized apps.

CI GAM will serve as administrator of the ETF and Galaxy Digital as sub-advisor. Galaxy Digital manages digital assets. They have comprehensive portfolio management expertise, market capital, mining, operations, blockchain, and cryptocurrencies.

The two companies joined forces in 2020, intending to create a bitcoin fund that raised $ 72 million when released. With this, CI seeks to acquire total dominion over the digital asset environment in Canada.

North America’s First Bitcoin ETF Raises over $ 400 Million in Two Days

The first Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) announced on February 11 started its activities by trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday, February 18. In just two days, the currency managed to raise 421 million dollars.

It is a Bitcoin ETF developed to offer greater exposure to this cryptocurrency through direct investment and physical settlement.

The bitcoin ETF (BTCC) hit the Canadian market with Purpose Investments, which traded CAD 80 million in the first hour of trading and CAD 200 million on the first day.

In this way,t this ETF could outperform the most prominent instruments of its kind in Canada in just a few weeks. The results have been very satisfactory, and they consider it to be the best way to start.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Catherine Wood of ARK Investment considers the potential of BTC as a great alternative. The bitcoin ecosystem would now be showing how much it has evolved, according to the CEO of Grayscale.

In recent months, institutional investments have been more present in the Bitcoin (BTC) ecosystem. A torrent of billions of dollars has hit the markets, searching for the so-called “digital gold” and taking a position in the world of cryptocurrencies.

The potential of crypto assets as financial instruments was at the hands of two renowned directors of investment funds who realized a very profound analysis. Catherine Wood of ARK Investment and Michael Sonnenshein, CEO of Grayscale, discussed the issue during the Bloomberg Crypto Summit. This virtual event gathered many relevant business executives in the crypto environment.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mike McGlone moderated the event. Panelists also noted that while they expected an explosive reaction in bitcoin institutional investments, the situation even surpassed their expectations. On this point, Wood indicated:

On this Point, Wood Clarified:

“We expected institutional investors to start moving (towards bitcoin). We did not expect institutions to diversify their cash assets on their (treasury) balance sheets. It turns up to be a positive surprise that we believe will keep on happening”, highlighted Wood during his speech.

The executive also stated that bitcoin’s capitalization, of about 850,000 million dollars at that moment, adds more value to the network and shows how the technology that surrounds cryptocurrencies stands still.

In Other Words, Wood said:

“Assuming a conservative allocation, in terms of cash or hedging policies, (bitcoin) has a capitalization potential of trillions of dollars,” added the fund manager in the talk. The macro-environment ».

Wood also compared the reach that bitcoin has acquired, as an asset, when comparing the currency’s achievements with the capitalization of the manufacturer of computers and mobile devices, Apple. The American company possesses a current capitalization of more than two trillion dollars, while bitcoin, in 12 years, has already reached one trillion dollars.

Wood’s point is that bitcoin, without being a company and valuation, already represents half of the world’s most influential company.

How is Bitcoin causing an Impact on gold and general business?

For the CEO of Grayscale, the volatile cryptocurrency and its relationship with a capital inflow of capital and the outflow of funds that gold has experienced is no coincidence. The precious metal is (and has been) the most important asset on the market, with a capitalization of 11 trillion dollars.

The representative of Grayscale, one of the largest cryptocurrency fund managers, said:

“There is no doubt that the fourth quarter of 2020 saw some of the largest outflows in gold investment products, (happened) at a time when Bitcoin exploded and hit all-time highs.”

Sonnenshein also considered the global situation due to the pandemic, financial crisis in countries, and what measures they have taken to keep economies afloat. On this point, he stressed that institutions now use bitcoin as a hedge against what could go wrong.

By: Jenson Nuñez

Prime brokerage services for cryptocurrencies are relatively almost new. Preferred brokerage firms have been around in traditional finance for decades.

Within the Bloomberg Crypto Summit event framework, there was addressing this Thursday, February 25, the so-called prime brokerage in the area of ​​bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Mike Belshe, co-founder and CEO of BitGo, and Genesis CEO Michael Moro participated.

The preferred brokerage groups a set of services that investment banks and other financial institutions have been offering to hedge funds and clients. These services add custody, loan and securities reconciliation, settlement, and consulting, as well as risk analysis and management.

The main goal of the forum on preferential brokerage at the Blomberg event was to elevate the opportunities it presents in ​​investing in cryptocurrencies.

Michael Moro starts talking about the differences between preferred brokerage services in traditional finance and their offering in the cryptocurrency scenario.

What BitGo and Genesis are doing with this set ​​of services for the world of cryptocurrencies is a product that should stem from decades of similar work in traditional finance brokerage. The purpose is mainly to meet the requirements of hedge funds.

Michael Moro, CEO of Genesis

The executive says that the intention is to create a comprehensive solution, which groups together a set of diverse services so that hedge funds can use the platforms of preferred brokers to consolidate their transactions, loan and custody requirements, and the administration of funds.

The idea is to generate a better user experience when working with cryptocurrencies, very similar to what users might expect from the traditional preferred brokerage environment.

Moro said:

“The differences do not come only from the type of product, but from the regulatory perspective. They took it into account to build that bridge that we mentioned, which joins the two worlds,” said Moro.

For Mike Belshe, clients already have expectations about preferred brokers, and it is a must for them to meet those expectations. The tasks that ensure compliance with existing legislation in the face of regulators are the most demanding for companies that provide brokerage services.

Belshe Also Points Out:

“And then, what we want is to take advantage of the advantages of cryptocurrencies, which bases on transparency and openness, and make sure that these projections come to happen in the financial system of the future.”

In some cases, Belshe says, it is necessary to work with clients from scratch because working with cryptocurrencies is different. Working with cryptocurrencies requires expertise in the technology area.

Besides, Michael Moro says that when users think of stocks, they associate those stocks with traditional deals like the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. In contrast, in the world of cryptocurrencies, bitcoin, and ether, dozens of deals worldwide are trading.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The scenario that Messari proposes gets very close to that offered by other analysts. In the evolution of the price of BTC, the cryptocurrency would reach USD 100,000 next April.

Messari researcher Mira Christanto raises on Twitter that if the current bitcoin rally were similar to that of 2017, we would be at a point in time like in July 2017, that is, six months away from a new all-time high. Based on expected percentage growth, it also says that the likely price of bitcoin in December will be $ 292,000.

The current bullish cycle for bitcoin started at the lowest point that the cryptocurrency dared to reach in December 2018, in the vicinity of $ 3,400. That is the initial date proposed by the Messari researcher in her tweet. This tweet coincides with many other analysts’ opinions.

The analyst and trader Ryan Wilday maintains that same theory in an article in which he predicts the evolution of the price of BTC on the same bullish cycle.

In the scenario that Christanto sees, the price evolution of the 2015-2017 bitcoin bull cycle is superimposed with the current process, as shown in the graph that accompanies the researcher’s tweet.

Another view this scenario shows is about the starting point of 2017 with a rally in April 2015. It reached its climax in December. According to the period considered, bitcoin’s price multiplied by a factor close to 100 concerning the initial cost.

There is a use of two bull cycles in this hypothesis. The claim is that the current process has not concluded. For Messari, if the price of BTC remained attached to the evolution of the bitcoin boom between 2015 and 2017, the cost would reach USD 300,000. The circumstances surrounding both cycles are not the same, and there are no arguments to support that evolution with roots on previous historical data can happen again.

After the first two bitcoin halvings, bullish price runs began with other returns when reaching the highest point and with different starting dates after reducing the miners’ reward. The current cycle, which started about ten months after the third halving, moved away from some of the assumptions made based on what happened after the previous halvings.

A closer analysis on halvings shows that, while bitcoin’s rally began almost immediately after the first of them, which occurred on November 28, 2012, the cycle after the second took more than a year to begin. The return of that first cycle at the end of 2012 was 60 times, while in the bull cycle after the second halving, the price increased 30 times.

In light of what happened with the third halving, the upward cycle would have started the previous December, according to the thesis already discussed, while the fall in March 2020 only meant a delay in the progress of the said cycle.

By: Jenson Nuñez

The Komodo scheme launched the public beta of its extreme product, AtomicDEX. The platform activates trustless atomic exchanges between different blockchains, currently connecting Ethereum and its tokens to blockchains such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Dogecoin.

The use of atomic swaps allows users to consolidate trades directly with the native tokens. Users purchasing Ether (ETH) with Bitcoin (BTC) would exchange ownership of the respective currencies on their blockchains without intermediate token representations.

The integration happens inside a dedicated multi-blockchain wallet built by Komodo, which includes an atomic swap feature. The beta reading of the trading system went to the public on Friday at 6 pm UTC.

Atomic swaps are an inter-chain interaction on which special cryptographic techniques, generally with roots on Hash Time-Locked Contracts, or HTLC, ensure that two transfers happen in their entirety. This interaction means that two parties will exchange funds simultaneously and if either party backs, the transaction won’t happen.

Komodo’s pseudonymous COO, known as JC, said that the scheme intends to connect with most of the blockchain environments, with upcoming integrations including the Cosmos ecosystem.

The mechanism can lodge almost any type of block doom, although each integration must occur manually. The team is still working on consolidating the privacy coin Monero (XMR), albeit with one last priority.

The exchange uses a more classic dummy of a decentralized order book that suites well with torrent-based technologies. This feature contrasts with the more well-known decentralized type of deal today, based on automated market makers like Uniswap.

The scheme still uses Flock Protocol oracles to set target prices, although, for assets that show no compatibility with Oracle’s purple, the system relied on CoinGecko. Going forward, the team plans to integrate Chainlink “since we don’t have to be married to a single Oracle decision,” JC said.

JC assured that the system did not control the funds at any point in the mechanism and pointed out that “decentralization slows down the [development] process. We cannot just hit everything related”.

One possible disadvantage that users could find in the mechanism is the requirement for old security. This process means that users must wait for blockchains to confirm the exchange, JC noted, although this is popular to DEXs on the regular.

Atomic exchanges can be an excellent alternative to join tokens with other blockchains, a process that is often under centralization due to some technical limitations. Escrow agents facilitate many popular Bitcoin containers on Ethereum, such as BitGo in Wrapped BTC (WBTC).

On the other hand, wrapping a token makes it easy for users because there is a simplification they don’t have to use such token in another block sentence. Once the initial solvency hurdles are overcome, it becomes a relatively consistent process. The rise of DeFi has allowed Wrapped BTC to reach a complete approval, making it easier to exchange in lending protocols.

By: Jenson Nuñez