Digital Assets
Digital assets are about more than just Bitcoin. The global adoption of blockchain, expansion of cross-border payments, new investment vehicles tied to intellectual property, and more, could one day establish a global market of digitized assets worth $50 trillion. This channel provides access to the latest developments, opportunities, risks, and thought leaders in the growing Digital Assets space.
Top Story
Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) has launched its Crypto app in the European Union (EU), allowing eligible customers to engage in crypto trading with the added incentive of earning Bitcoin rewards. Customers stand to receive up to 1 BTC as a reward when signing up and can earn an additional 1 BTC for each successful referral. The platform claims to be the sole custodial crypto platform in the EU offering customers a percentage of their trading volume back every month, paid in Bitcoin.
Get Daily Updates
Subscribe to DailyAlts Today to get Alternative Investment news, insight, and commentary delivered straight to your inbox every day.
More Stories on Digital Assets
Digital Assets: Are Investors Bottom-Fishing The Toronto-Listed Purpose Bitcoin ETF?
Evidence is emerging that investors are bottom-fishing bitcoin using the TSE-listed Purpose Bitcoin ETF (TSE: BTCC.U). The ETF has witnessed mounting investor interest because it has reported inflows continuously over the past five days, taking its holdings to a record high of 43,701.7 BTC as of Tuesday.
Digital Assets: Binance Debuts Its Own Web3 VC Fund, Raises $500M
The fund was raised by Binance Labs, a venture and incubation arm of Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. Binance Labs announced today in a blog post a $500 million raise for its debut venture finance fund. The amount was subscribed by leading global institutional investors such as DST Global Partners and Breyer Capital. Other…
Digital Assets: South Korea Steps Up Creation Of Crypto Regulator After the Luna Debacle
South Korea is putting pedal to the metal for setting up a regulatory body to watch over the crypto sector following the “terra (LUNA) incident,” in which investors lost billions of dollars due to the collapse of the terra stablecoin.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Australian Investors Can Now Invest In A Spot Ethereum ETF
An announcement by Cboe Australia, a regulated stock exchange, said Australian investors could gain access to the Purpose Ether ETF through the Cosmos Purpose Ethereum Access ETF (CPET) launching today on the exchange. Since its launch on the Toronto Stock Exchange in April 2021, the Purpose fund has accumulated more than AUD$570 million in assets under management, and is said to be the world’s first Ethereum ETF.
Digital Assets: Memorial Day Weekend Could Be Highly Volatile For Crypto (Fundstrat)
Sean Farrell, head of digital asset strategy at financial research firm Fundstrat, has advised crypto investors to keep a low profile and hedge their holdings against heightened volatility due to low trading volumes.
Digital Assets: Giant Bitcoin Mining Outfit In Texas Gets Four Tesla Megapack Batteries
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) has delivered four Megapacks to the mega-scale bitcoin mining facility in Texas being built by Blockstream and Jack Dorsey’s Block (NYSE: SQ). Megapack is a powerful battery that provides energy storage and support, helping to stabilize the grid and prevent outages. Each unit can store over 3 MWh of energy—that’s enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for one hour.
Venture Capital/Digital: Andreessen Horowitz Wraps Up $4.5B For Crypto Fund IV
Silicon Valley-based, storied, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz announced a new $4.5 billion fund to back startups in the crypto, or web3 space. Computing is now entering the golden era of web3, the firm feels, akin to the golden era of 2009-11, when companies like Uber, Venmo, Snap, and Instagram were started. “That’s why we decided to go big,” wrote Founder and Managing Partner Chris Dixon in the fund announcement.
Alternative Investments/Digital/VC/RealEstate: VC To Be Bitcoin’s Saviour, Prefer Crypto To Real Estate (JP Morgan)
JPMorgan said in a research report Wednesday that despite the fallout from the Terra/Luna collapse, the crypto market would be saved from a “winter” by venture capital, and that bitcoin could rebound to its fair value of $38,000 after a “capitulation” in recent weeks. That implies an upside of about 28% from bitcoin’s current price of $29,618.
Venture Capital/ESG: Adam Neumann Co-Founded Flowcarbon Raises $70M Via VC Funding And Token Sale
Flowcarbon, co-founded by Adam Neumann, known for WeWork, is a climate technology company seeking to formalize the market for carbon offsets on the blockchain. The startup announced Tuesday its $70 million fundraise comprising token sales and a $32 million Series A round led by a16z crypto and including General Catalyst, Samsung Next, Invesco Private Capital, 166 2nd, Sam and Ashley Levinson, Kevin Turen, RSE Ventures, and Allegory Labs. Notable names that participated in the token sale included Fifth Wall, Box Group, and the Celo Foundation.
Digital Assets: The Terra (LUNA) Implosion – Sidelights
One hapless investor lost about 3 billion won ($2.4 million) in the LUNA and UST implosion earlier this month. A Korean social media personality going by the name of “Chancers” took it upon himself to knock on the door to Kwon’s condo in Seoul after Do Kwon allegedly went incommunicado subsequent to the meltdown in the LUNA crypto and UST stablecoin. Unfortunately, Chancers was unaware of the law prohibiting such an action and was arrested by the authorities.
Digital Assets: Swiss Venture Firm CV VC Launches African Blockchain Early-Stage Fund; Issues African Blockchain Report
CV VC announced Monday at Davos the launch of its African Blockchain Early-Stage Fund to bring the advantages of the blockchain and its own expertise to enable Africa to transact and interact for the well-being of its people and economies.
Digital Assets: Michael Saylor Unmoved By Crypto Weakness; “We Think It’s The Future Of Money”
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), who is permanently bullish on bitcoin, reiterated his positive outlook for the leading crypto in an interview on Thursday. Note that MicroStrategy currently holds a trove of 129,218 bitcoins, approximately worth $3.73 billion at current prices.
Digital Assets: Traditional Markets Could Suffer Contagion From (Un)Stablecoins (SEC Chair Gensler)
The crypto world was dealt a body blow by the collapse of the TerraUSD (UST) stablecoin earlier this month. The Terra meltdown is now being referred as crypto’s “Lehman moment.” Worse, other stablecoins and protocols seem to have been dragged into Terra’s aftermath and appear to be in danger of losing their dollar pegs, notably Deus Finance’s DEI coin, currently tottering at $0.5873.
FinTech: Sam Bankman-Fried Led FTX.US Makes Inroads Into Stock Trading
FTX Stocks is an equity trading platform offered through the FTX US trading application. FTX US announced Thursday a private beta phase trading on the platform for US customers selected from a waitlist. These customers would get access to hundreds of US exchange-listed securities, including common stocks and ETFs, alongside the cryptos already available in the FTX US app.
Digital Assets: Nomura To Launch Digital Asset Company To Cater To Institutional Clients
Nomura Holdings Inc (NYSE: NMR) announced this week its plans to launch a new digital asset company that would serve institutional clients and other investors with products and services linked to cryptocurrencies, stable coins, decentralized finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and other tokens.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Fidelity Canada Launches Total Metaverse Index ETF
idelity Investments Canada launched today the Fidelity Total Metaverse Index ETF on the NEO Exchange under the ticker symbol FMTV. The metaverse is a term used to describe a potential future state of the Internet characterized by a network of augmented reality and virtual worlds that can be experienced persistently and in a shared environment by large numbers of users. The metaverse allows people to engage in various online experiences in a more immersive way, using devices such as virtual reality (VR) and/or augmented reality (AR) headsets. The potential market opportunity of the metaverse is estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues.
Digital Assets: Web3 And dapps Now Accessible Inside The Coinbase App
oinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) has launched new features that allow users to access Web3 and dapps directly from the Coinbase app. The new dapp wallet and dapp browser power this functionality in the app, and effective today, some lucky users can buy NFTs on marketplaces like Coinbase NFT and OpenSea, trade on Decentralized Exchanges like Uniswap and Sushiswap, and borrow, lend, or swap through DeFi platforms like Compound and Curve.
Digital Assets: Grayscale Launches Its First ETF in Europe
Grayscale Investments’ first European ETF, the Grayscale Future of Finance UCITS ETF, will list on European bourses and offer investors exposure to companies that are at the intersection of finance, technology, and digital assets and building the digital economy.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Crypto Funds Launching Overseas
Three Crypto ETFs are finally expected to debut in Australia after a delay of two weeks pending resolution of “downstream issues.” Separately, three new crypto ETPs from CoinShares providing directly backed exposure to FTT, LINK, and UNI, the native tokens underpinning the FTX, Chainlink, and Uniswap networks, have already begun trading on the Deutsche Börse Xetra.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Looking Weak At $32,670; May Test $29K
Bitcoin continued its bearish trajectory today after the last Fed meeting hiked rates by 0.5%, the largest increase since 2000. The crypto, at the time of writing, is trading at $32,189, down nearly 7%, and in tandem with a massive fall in the mainline US indices: Dow (-1.76%); S&P500 (-2.66%); and Nasdaq (-3.55%). Global equity indices had also fallen today, slammed by a sweeping ‘risk-off’ mindset taking hold among investors.
Digital Assets: Gucci To Soon Accept More Than 10 Cryptocurrencies At Five Select US Stores
By the end of this month, Gucci will start to accept cryptocurrency payments in a few US stores, and later extend the pilot to all of its directly operated stores in the US this summer. More than 10 currencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, and five stablecoins pegged to the US dollar, will be accepted by the iconic brand. The Gucci stores at Wooster Street in New York, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles, Miami Design District, Phipps Plaza in Atlanta, and The Shops at Crystals in Las Vegas will be the first to take crypto payments.
Alternative Investments/Fintech: AXS Investments Launches Leveraged Innovation ETF
Alternative investment asset manager AXS Investments launched the AXS 2X Innovation ETF (NASDAQ: TARK), a 2X leveraged product focused on companies involved in transformational industries, such as fintech, autonomous vehicles, genomics and next-gen internet.
Digital Assets: Liechtenstein’s LGT Bank Offers Crypto Investing
LGT Bank, the largest private banking and asset management group in the world that is wholly owned by an entrepreneurial family – the Princely House of Liechtenstein – had assets under management of CHF 285.8 billion as of December 31 (US$ 292.75 billion at current exchange rates). The bank announced the launch of crypto investments using US dollars for its select clientele.
Alternative Investments/Digital: CI Global Launches Blockchain and Metaverse ETFs
CI Global Asset Management has launched two new ETFs focused on the digital megatrends of blockchain and metaverse. The CI Galaxy Blockchain ETF and CI Galaxy Metaverse ETF commenced trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 3 under the tickers CBCX and CMVX, respectively.