Crypto Investment Firm Grayscale Brings In $330 Million Even as Market Sags
*by Tanaya Macheel*
Next year may signal a more widespread adoption of crypto among institutional investors ー if the current momentum continues, that is.
Grayscale, a veteran digital currency investment firm, saw record inflows, $330 million in the first three quarters of 2018 ー most of which came from institutional investors including hedge funds, endowments and pensions, according to the managing director.
“That’s against nothing but price decline,” which investors are using as “a time to create \[an\] initial position or start scaling into a position” in Bitcoin or other crypto assets, Michael Sonnenshein told Cheddar on Friday.
In the third quarter, 73 percent of inflows were into the Bitcoin Investment Trust, while 27 percent were into Grayscale products tied to other digital assets, according to Grayscale’s third-quarter Digital Asset Investment Report, published Thursday.
For the year to date, Bitcoin accounted for 66 percent of total assets raised and 34 percent went into other digital assets.
Most of Grayscale’s capital inflows are going to its Bitcoin product because investors are most familiar and comfortable with it. Eight of Grayscale’s nine different products are for single currencies ーlike Bitcoin or XRP. The ninth is a bundle that offers exposure to the largest digital currencies by market cap.
“We’re starting to see a lot more interest in those types of structures, especially in the wake of seeing other firms shut down their index products,” Sonnenshein said of the large cap fund.
“A lot of folks want to generally allocate to the space and not have to choose winners or avoid losers and like the idea of the large cap fund for that very reason.”
Since late last year’s run-up, when the price of Bitcoin reached nearly $20,000, Fidelity, the third-largest asset manager in the world, announced plans to launch a crypto custody and institutional brokerage business. Goldman Sachs announced plans to open a crypto trading operation. Intercontinental Exchange, the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange, has entered the crypto industry through a new company called Bakkt. Earlier this week, Morgan Stanley released a bullish report on cryptocurrencies, hailing Bitcoin and other digital assets as a "new institutional investment class.”
“The once taboo nature of investing in digital currencies has been shrugged off by most investors. When we go sit down with our hedge fund clients, endowments, whatever they may be, there is so much knowledge on the other side of the table that, to us, is really validating," Sonnenshein said.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/morgan-stanley-says-cryptocurrencies-are-a-new-asset-class).
As the saying goes, one man's trash is another man's treasure. That's exactly what artist David Anasagasti, also known as Ahol Sniffs Glue, was thinking when he created his scavenger hunt during Art Basel. Nearly 100 winners who followed the clues were able to get their piece of art signed, plus an NFT minted artwork. Artist Ahol Sniffs Glue joins Cheddar News to discuss the event and his exhibit.
Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri faced a bipartisan Congressional grilling this week as the Senate inquired about safety practices for protecting the mental wellbeing of young people on the platform. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) joined Cheddar to talk about the hearing and how she was disappointed in Instagram coming unprepared with relevant information or documents. Blackburn also offered concern that the platform could continue with building a kids-only version despite having drawn significant opposition from the public.
If you were wondering what the most popular trends on Google were after a rollercoaster 2021, the search giant has released its annual trending list. Sports, politics, and "Squid Game" dominated the U.S. and global trends this year.
Ford Pro has teamed up with Salesforce to launch 'VIIZR.' a new software service designed to help small businesses and tradespeople succeed. The newly launched tool will help small businesses simplify commercial activities including invoicing, scheduling and managing requests, from one integrated, cloud-based platform. Ted Cannis, CEO, Ford Pro, joined Cheddar to discuss.
a new study by The Buy Safe America Coalition shows retail theft has ballooned to over $68 billion per year. Most of these thefts are the result of something called organized retail crime. Those stolen goods are resold to unsuspecting consumers, often on popular online marketplaces like Facebook marketplace, eBay, OfferUp, and letgo. Mike Combs, Director of Organized Retail Crime Investigations at The Home Depot, joined Cheddar to discuss organized retail crime, how to identify it, and what can be done to stop it.
Online broker TradeStation Group has landed on Wall Street. The company went public via SPAC deal, valuing the combined venture at $1.4 billion. John Bartleman , President & CEO TradeStation Group, Inc. joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
Samsung is getting a major shake-up. In its biggest reshuffle since 2017, the South Korean company is merging its mobile and consumer electronics divisions and replacing its three CEOs with two new leaders. The move is seen as an effort to simplify its structure and focus more on the semiconductor business. Paulina Likos, investing reporter for U.S. News & World Report, explains why Samsung is merging these two units now, and its potential priorities moving forward.
Sarah E. Needleman, reporter at The Wall Street Journal joins Cheddar News to discuss the recent AWS outage and if the internet is too dependent on Amazon.
