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.
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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.
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More Stories on Digital Assets
Digital Assets: Amidst Bitcoin’s Moonshot, Crypto Exchanges Are Wheeling-Dealing
A Bloomberg report said today, citing anonymous sources, that crypto trading exchange Bakkt was negotiating a deal to go public through a merger with blank-check company VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings (NASDAQ: VIH). At the other end of the globe, Nexon (TYO: 3659), the South Korean multi-billion-dollar gaming conglomerate, is negotiating to buy out a controlling stake in Bithumb, Korea’s largest bitcoin and crypto exchange.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: FiCAS’ Active Crypto ETP Greenlighted For All Investors Across The European Union
FiCAS AG announced today that it has received the regulatory go-ahead to offer its 15 FiCAS Active Crypto ETP throughout the European Union to all investors. FiCAS, a Swiss-based crypto investment boutique, had first launched the ETP in Switzerland in July 2020 on the SIX Swiss Exchange. The actively managed ETP does not track bitcoin or any other crypto. Instead, FiCAS actively manages its investments in 15 top cryptocurrencies to generate sustainable returns over a time horizon of 3 to 5 years.
Digital Assets: CPPIB Takes $113M Haircut On Investment In SolarWinds
Around December 9, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Canada’s largest pension fund, bought approximately 5% of Texas-based software company SolarWinds (NYSE: SWI) for $315 million from private equity firm shareholders Silver Lake and Thoma Bravo. The price was $21.97 per share of SolarWinds. A week later, news broke of the very sophisticated cyberattack on SolarWinds. The price of the stock fell to a low of $13.98, knocking off 36% of CPPIB’s investment.
Alternative Investments/Digital: “Bitcoin Could Be Rat Poison, But The Rat Could Be Cash,” Says Bill Miller
Bill Miller, the founder of major investment management firm Miller Value Partners and Co-Founder of Legg Mason Capital Management, made some very bullish observations on bitcoin in his Market Letter for Q4.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Smashes Past $35K
The leading cryptocurrency sets yet another new all-time high in 2021.
For those impressed by the 16.26% return the S&P 500 clocked in all of 2020, here’s something to chew on. At the time of writing, bitcoin is sitting pretty on a gain of nearly 19% achieved in just six days of the new year. For 2020, the crypto achieved a return of 301.33%. Bitcoin (BTC) struck a new high of $35,879 on January 5 but is currently trading around $34,400.
Digital Assets: Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund Switches Out Of XRP
In continuing bad news for the beleaguered XRP cryptocurrency, Grayscale Investments announced today that it had removed XRP from the portfolio of the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund. It said it used the sale proceeds from XRP to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, the other components of the fund.
Alternative Investments: Simplify Asset Management Launches Four New Disruptive Technology ETFs
Four new ‘bleeding edge’ ETFs are on the anvil from Simplify Asset Management. Founded by Paul Kim and David M. Berns, Ph.D., the firm’s new thematic ETFs focus on firms that have important technological or cultural edges and provide meaningful concentration to their stock price.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Fresh Bid By VanEck For A Bitcoin ETF
VanEck filed an application with the SEC last week for a VanEck Bitcoin Trust. The SEC has removed unmoved thus far and turned down all previous applications for launching a bitcoin ETF. VanEck itself retracted its previous ETF application in September 2019.
Digital Assets: As Bitcoin Soars, Russia’s Gazprom Neft Kills Two Birds With One Stone
With bitcoin having scaled an all-time high of US$ 34,000, it is becoming increasingly lucrative to mine the cryptocurrency, especially if energy costs are low, or free. Gazprom Neft, a direct subsidiary of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom (MCX: GAZP), is converting gas from its oil fields, that would otherwise have been flared, into usable energy for bitcoin mining.
Digital Assets: SolarWinds Attack More Widespread Than Thought
The massive cyberattack launched by a suspected nation-state earlier this month is more pervasive than previously estimated says the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). The hack also attacked computer systems used by state and local governments, critical infrastructure entities and other private sector organizations.
Digital Assets: SEC Has Ripple In The Dock; Garlinghouse Fires Back
The SEC on Tuesday charged Ripple and two executives for raising over $1.38 billion via an unregistered securities offering.
The SEC filed the complaint in the federal district court in Manhattan alleging that the defendants violated the registration provisions of the Securities Act. It prayed for injunctive relief, disgorgement with prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. The two executives named in the complaint are Christian Larsen, Ripple’s co-founder, executive chairman of its board, and former CEO; and Bradley Garlinghouse, the company’s current CEO.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Bitcoin Funds By CI Financial And Skybridge
Canadian mutual fund manager CI Financial Corp has floated a US$72 million bitcoin fund. The IPO of the closed-ended fund issued units at US$12.88 ($10) each. These will list on the Toronto Stock Exchange in both USD and Canadian dollars. Meanwhile, an SEC filing reveals that Skybridge Capital, the wealth management firm run by Anthony Scaramucci, is launching Skybridge Bitcoin Fund L.P.
Digital Assets: Clayton’s Parting Shot At Crypto – SEC To Sue Ripple
The SEC will likely sue Ripple, CEO Brad Garlinghouse, and co-founder Chris Larsen, according to Fortune. The SEC will charge the defendants for selling XRP tokens, which it alleges are unlicensed securities. XRP ranks third in the pecking order of cryptocurrencies with a market cap of $23 billion. The SEC would make the case that XRP is a security and it needed to be registered as an investment contract prior to its sale.
Digital Assets: MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin Binge Buying > $1B
MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), the business intelligence firm led by bitcoin evangelist CEO Michael Saylor, announced this morning that it had bought about 29,646 additional bitcoins for about $650 million in cash. The average price works out to approximately $21,925 per bitcoin, all-inclusive of fees and expenses.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Suspected Russian Hack Attack Ignites Cybersecurity ETFs
A nation-scale bad actor is said to be responsible for the security breaches last week that have compromised untold numbers of victims ranging from government agencies to corporates. The modus operandi was to infect thousands of systems through SolarWinds, a third-party software vendor. Investors may keep an eye on cybersecurity stocks and ETFs.
Digital Assets: OSL The First Crypto Exchange To Be Licensed By Hong Kong’s SFC
The Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) licensed OSL Digital Securities to operate a regulated brokerage and automated trading service for digital assets. OSL is now the world’s first SFC-licensed, listed, digital asset wallet-insured, Big-4 audited digital asset trading platform for institutions and professional investors, it said in an announcement.
Digital Assets: Paxos Raises $142 Million in Series C Funding
Paxos, the blockchain infrastructure and financial technology firm that partners Revolut and PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) for cryptocurrencies, has raised $142 million in a Series C round.
Declaration Partners, an investment adviser to the family office of $230 billion private equity giant Carlyle Group’s co-founder David Rubenstein, led Paxos’ round. Mithril Capital, PayPal Ventures, RIT Capital Partners plc, Ken Moelis, Alua Capital, Senator Investment Group and others also participated.
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: “This Is The Most Interesting Macro Trade I’ve Seen In My Career” (Eric Peters Of One River)
Bloomberg revealed Wednesday that hedge fund One River Asset Management was the newest bitcoin whale on the block after it bought up more than $600 million in cryptos. One River chief executive Eric Peters conducted his trades in bitcoin and ether quietly through November at prices below $16,000.
Digital Assets: Bitcoin Scales $20K; Ruffer UK Bought £550M Of Bitcoin In November
Bitcoin is in the history books today after it suddenly sliced through the key $20,000 resistance like a hot knife through butter. It is now trading above that psychological level for the first time. As this is being written, the cryptocurrency is perched at $20,675, up 5.97%. It has now taken out its previous all-time high achieved on December 1, 2020.
Digital Assets: MassMutual’s Bitcoin Deal Could Trigger $600B Institutional Demand (JPMorgan)
A note from analysts at JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) released Friday said that “adoption of bitcoin was spreading from family offices and wealthy investors to insurance firms and pension funds.” In evidence, the note cited the recent investment by MassMutual in bitcoin worth $ 100 million.
Digital Assets: Hackers, Suspected Of Russian Origin, Breach The U.S. Treasury
According to a Reuters report, hackers infiltrated departments in the U.S. government and read emails. The criminals were said to be working for Russia, and the attack could have much wider repercussions, Reuters’ sources said.
The bad actors targeted the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
Alternative Investments/Digital Assets: Swiss Firm Valour Launches Fee Free Bitcoin Exchange Traded Product (ETP)
Valour, a Swiss firm that creates innovative financial products, has launched Bitcoin Zero. This is an exchange-traded product (ETP) that charges no management fees. The ETP commenced trading last week on the Nordic MTF segment of the Nordic Growth Market stock exchange.
Digital Assets: Venerable Mass Mutual Hops Onto The Crypto Bandwagon; Buys $100M Bitcoin
U.S.-based mutual firm The Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company plunked down $100 million to buy bitcoin for its general investment account, according to the Wall Street Journal. For good measure, it also acquired 5% in NYDIG, the bitcoin-dedicated financial services firm.
Digital Assets: France Cracks Down On Crypto To Counter Money Laundering And Terrorism Financing
December 9 will be a forgettable date for crypto supporters in France and across the globe. On Wednesday various French ministries jointly issued an ordinance that banned anonymous crypto accounts and digital asset transactions.