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: Fidelity Offers Institutions “Sherlock,” A Data Analytics Solution For Digital Assets
Fidelity Investments has unveiled Sherlock, a data solution for institutions that presents comprehensive fundamental and technical data on digital assets sourced from leading institutional data providers, presented in one central location.
Digital Assets: Charlie Munger Shreds Bitcoin
Charlie Munger, a legendary investor, and Warren Buffett’s right-hand man lampooned bitcoin at Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE: BRK.A) annual meeting on Saturday. On a Q&A session, the company’s 97-year old Vice Chairman fired a salvo of negative comments against the leading cryptocurrency.
Digital Assets: Zipmex Helps Asian Buyer Splurge Bitcoin On A Lambo
The distinction for the purchase of Asia’s first Lamborghini using bitcoin goes to car buyer Jo Chirawat, exchange Zipmex, and Bangkok-based Lambo dealer Renazzo Motors. Zipmex announced it had facilitated the transaction for a bitcoin-paid Lamborghini 2021 Huracán EVO RWD through its ZipSpend crypto-payment network.
Venture Capital: Paxos Receives $2.4B Valuation With $300M Series D Funding
Paxos, which operates a regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, announced Thursday its close of a $300 million Series D round of funding led by Oak HC/FT. Returning investors Declaration Partners, PayPal Ventures, Mithril Capital, Senator Investment Group, Liberty City Ventures, WestCap, and others also participated.
Alternative Investments/AI: A New ‘Fund Of Thematic Funds’ From LGIM
The Legal & General Global Thematic Fund, a new launch from Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), addresses UK investors and their demand for access to multiple themes. The innovation-focused fund is a bouquet of eight themes in the areas of technology, energy and resources, and changing demographics.
Digital Assets: The SEC Puts Off Its Decision On The VanEck Bitcoin ETF To June 17
In an announcement today the Securities and Exchange Commission deferred its decision on the application by the Cboe BZX Exchange on March 1, 2021, to list shares of the VanEck Bitcoin Trust through a proposed rule change.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Trades Give Tesla A $101M “Positive Impact” On Quarterly Profit
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) first-quarter results, announced on Monday, showed the electric vehicle maker clocked a record quarterly net profit of $438 million on a GAAP basis. Of particular interest to bitcoin aficionados, the company also made some more information, and commentary, available on its investment of $1.5 billion in bitcoin in the first quarter.
Digital Assets: Vebitcoin, Another Turkish Crypto Exchange, Downed Shutters Friday
The Turkish authorities are grappling with thousands of investor complaints after two of the country’s crypto exchanges, Thodex and Vebitcoin, suspended their operations within the space of about a week. Both exchanges are being investigated for fraud and authorities have already arrested numerous persons in this connection.
Digital Assets: Chief Of Turkish Crypto Exchange Thodex On The Lam, Allegedly With $2B
Turkish crypto exchange Thodex has gone dark and that its CEO Faruk Fatih Ozer is missing. Ominously, according to local media reports, Istanbul police are of the view that Ozer has hot-footed it to Albania, taking $2 billion of investors’ money with him.
Digital Assets: Nearly 63% Of U.S. Adults Are “Crypto Curious” (Gemini Survey)
The “2021 State of U.S. Crypto Report” from Gemini takes a look at what investors and crypto-curious consumers in the United States think about cryptos after new trends that emerged in 2020. These include rising institutional interest and corporate actions by companies such as Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) that fuelled a huge rally in bitcoin.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Could Tank 50%, Says Guggenheim’s Scott Minerd
Speaking on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” Guggenheim Partners’ Scott Minerd warned that bitcoin could see another of its gut-wrenching declines – as much as 50% – as the leading crypto had likely had run too hot, too quickly. Long-term, however, Minerd remained bullish on bitcoin.
Alternative Investments: Disruptor-Focused, Hyper-Concentrated ETFs From Volt Equity
Volt Equity, the boutique investment firm based in Silicon Valley, has joined with Simplify Asset Management to launch a new class of ETFs that are highly concentrated in their exposure and come with an inbuilt options strategy. These ETFs allow investors to “bet big” on companies that are disruptors in their field, or are creating new industries, yet also offer a cushion against downsides. The target audience for these ETFs is Robinhood-era bull investors.
FinTech: Cryptocurrencies Now On Venmo
Social payments, or P2P, app Venmo has launched the facility to buy, sell or hold cryptocurrencies from within its app. Users can buy bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, or bitcoin cash with as little as $1 and enjoy the thrills of owning cryptocurrencies.
Alternative Investments/Digital: Its Raining Crypto ETF Approvals In Canada, But Fee Wars Erupt In Ether
Canadian regulators cleared three Ethereum ETFs last week. These were funds from Purpose Investments, CI Global Asset Management, and Evolve ETFs that are expected to commence trading today. Meanwhile, the fourth bitcoin ETF to be approved by Canada, the 3iQ CoinShares Bitcoin ETF, commenced trading on the TSX effective Monday. Unsurprisingly, the (surfeit?) of new ETFs has resulted in a chase for investors’ dollars, and fee cuts have been announced.
Digital Assets: CBDC Tid-Bits
The Bank of England and HM Treasury announced Monday the joint creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Taskforce to coordinate the exploration of a potential UK CBDC. Slowly, but steadily, more and more central banks and governments across the globe are waking up to the potential of CBDCs.
Digital Assets: The U.K. Makes Exploratory Moves Towards CBDC
The Bank of England and HM Treasury today announced the joint creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Taskforce to coordinate the exploration of a potential UK CBDC. However, in a statement, the Bank said no final decision has been made on whether to launch a CBDC in the U.K., and that the Bank and the Government would “engage widely with stakeholders on the benefits, risks, and practicalities of doing so.”
Alternative Investments/Digital: New Ethereum ETFs Launch In Canada
CI Global Asset Management announced Friday that its CI Galaxy Ethereum ETF had been cleared by the Canadian Securities regulators and that the ETF is likely to start trading on the TSX on April 20. On the same day, Purpose Investments Inc said it had received the regulator’s go-ahead for the Purpose Ether ETF which will invest in physical Ether tokens.
Alternative Investments/Digital: The First Inverse Bitcoin Fund From Horizons ETF Canada
Horizons ETFs Management (Canada) Inc announced the launch of the BetaPro Inverse Bitcoin ETF (TSE: BITI) on the Toronto Stock Exchange effective Thursday. The ETF will allow investors to make bearish bets against bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency. It will provide up to 100% of the inverse daily performance of an index, the Horizons Bitcoin Front Month Rolling Futures Index.
Digital Assets: BlackRock’s Larry Fink Says Cryptos “Can Become A Great Asset Class”
BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink, giving his views on cryptos in a CNBC interview on Thursday, said large and long-term investors such as retirement funds, sovereign wealth funds, and family offices didn’t appear to be too interested in investing in cryptos.
Alternative Investments/Digital: CoinShares Launches XRP ETP On SIX Swiss Exchange
CoinShares, the largest digital asset manager in Europe, announced the launch of CoinShares Physical XRP (XRPL), its latest exchange-traded product (ETP). XRPL provides investors exposure to the XRP cryptocurrency and the native token unit of the Ripple network. Each unit of XRPL is physically backed at launch by 40.0 XRP.
Digital Assets: AXA Allows Customers To Pay Bills With Bitcoin
AXA has become the first all-lines insurer in Switzerland to accept payments from customers in bitcoin. The company’s decision stems from a 2019 survey of people between the ages of 18 to 55 and their views on cryptocurrencies. AXA (EPA: CS) found that about a third of respondents already owned them or intended to do so. That trend received a fillip from the digital transformation propelled by the pandemic.
Digital Assets: CoinBase Debut – Crypto’s “Watershed” Moment
The much-awaited day of Coinbase’s listing is finally upon us. Trading in COIN, the ticker symbol assigned to Coinbase, is yet to commence. However, CNBC reported that the shares in the crypto exchange, which are to be directly listed, are likely to open at about $360 per share, though Nasdaq provided a reference price of $250 on Tuesday.
Digital Assets: TIME Magazine To Hold Bitcoin On Its Balance Sheet
TIME Magazine, which launched in 1923 and is in the midst of a digital transformation, has embraced bitcoin in a big way. According to a tweet by Michael Sonnenshein, the CEO of Grayscale Investments, TIME will hold bitcoin on its balance sheet.
Digital Assets: MicroStrategy To Pay Directors In Bitcoin
In a unique plug for bitcoin’s adoption, MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the business information firm, has decided to pay its non-employee directors in bitcoin. The company has been a trendsetter, setting aside millions of dollars from its reserves to invest in bitcoin. Now its directors will get bitcoin in lieu of their services.