Showing posts with label wall street. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wall street. Show all posts

Crypto's New Wall Street Investors Completely Unbothered By This Past Week's $10,000+ Correction...

Bitcoin Markets

For some analysts, it was plausible to expect a correction after the new all-time high, and it did indeed occur last Monday.

If you've been in the crypto market for awhile, you likely slept like a baby, knowing it was business as usual. Occasionally, people like taking some of their profits, and the smart ones know they'll be back, and at a discount.

But there's a lot of new investors in crypto, now more than ever. The price of Bitcoin fell to $45,000 - a drop from $58,000 in a span of 3 days.

This can understandably scare some people off, and many were wondering if the new investors would be able to resist panic selling and selling everything.  Like many would if stocks took a similar dip. 

However, One Announcement After Another Kept Coming - Showing That The Dip Didn't Slow Things Down At All...

Square acquired an additional 3,380 BTC for $ 170 million, while MicroStrategy made its largest investment so far in bitcoin, at acquire almost 20,000 BTC for $ 1 billion.

The once anti-crypto JPMorgan now recommends investing in bitcoin. And in another sign of rapprochement between the world of cryptocurrencies and the regulatory environment.

SynBiotic SE's announcement of its investment in bitcoin as a hedge against inflation would reveal that interest in the first currency as a safe haven asset could extend to a wide segment of SMEs companies.

Institutional investment firm Stone Ridge, which had already invested $100 million in Bitcoin last October, filed a prospectus with the SEC to list bitcoin as an asset in its diversified investment fund.

I'll wrap this up with one that goes the other way - a company from the crypto world wanting to get in to Wall Street - Coinbase applied to the SEC to be listed on the stock market. It appears they'll be welcomed with open arms. 

So, in short - the bull market continues, picking up right where we left off. 
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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk / Breaking Crypto News

Stocks Down, Crypto Up?

Bitcoin has proven this theory over a dozen times already in 2019 when a rough day for the traditional markets were met by bull runs of some of the top cryptocurrencies. 

But with an asset as new and unpredictable as Bitcoin, this will need to stay true for bit longer to really convince traditional investors that this is a reliable hedging method, like it is with gold.

Gold which has skyrocketed even in the worst, long term economic recessions, while cypto has only proven itself as something to turn to for relief on a bad day.

However, one advantage over gold is emerging - when stocks go up, Bitcoin appears to be unaffected, while gold typically declines in value when the rest of the economy is doing well.

While crypto is looking like the perfect hedge for short term investments, the big question remains - would people really turn to crypto in a serious economic downturn, one lasting months or longer? Or, is what we're seeing only because the bad days on Wall Street really aren't that bad?

Still, even if investors wouldn't turn to crypto to get through a bad year, if it continues to help them get though bad days, we can expect a lot more to begin implementing this strategy! 

Video courtesy of CNBC

Ethereum Hits Wall Street - ETH Trust Will Open On OTC Markets, Making It Easier Than Ever For Stock Traders To Buy...

The Ethereum Trust created by Grayscale isn't new, it's been around since 2017 - what's new is how easy it will be for everyday investors to get into.

Previously, investors would need to be accredited clients of Grayscale (the company that offers it) and start with a minimum investment of $25,000.

Until today - when Wall Street’s self regulatory organization The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) approved the listing of the Ether based trust on OTC markets, meaning anyone who holds stocks can add this to their portfolio by buying shares of the trust, which will trade under symbol 'ETHE'.

Also gone is the minimum investment, opening up participation to 'mom and pop' traders. "The secondary market really opens up the opportunity for any and all investors” says Grayscale's managing director Michael Sonnenshein.

Important note for crypto traders who may not be familiar with traditional markets - unlike trading in futures, a trust actually holds the asset. Meaning Greyscale actually buys and holds Ethereum in order to operate the trust, in this case each share equaling about 0.10 ETH.

So why is this a big deal? Many investors are curious about crypto, but not enough to fully dive in and open an account on an exchange.  Now, they can shares of the trust to their existing stock portfolio.

Sentiment around Ethereum was already indicating high levels of positive speculation that Ethereum is next in line for a strong bull run. All eyes are on $250, a resistance level ETH hasn't been able to break through since Sept 2018. With the exception of a quick spike up, that came right back down, so quickly its was meaningless - but if it can hold above this level; next time the flood gates may open!

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Author: Justin Derbek
New York News Desk

Researcher surprised after polling financial advisers: 80% have clients asking about crypto, advisers considering offering it has more than doubled!

Matt Hougan tells ETF Trends the surprising results of polling 150 financial advisers.

Interesting data points that came to light include 80% of the financial advisers have had clients ask about cryptocurrencies.  We believe this is what triggered much of what we see now, in regards to the amount of traditional investment firms moving into the crypto market. Their clients inquiries are really a warning - if they can't offer crypto soon, they could go somewhere that does.

The most surprising stat however was the huge jump from 9% to 22% of financial advisers either thinking about, or 'seriously considering' allocating investment funds into cryptocurrency.  Surprising because this followed crypto's rough 2018 - it's extremely abnormal for confidence in an asset to go up, while it's price goes down.

He's also optimistic on a Bitcoin ETF still happening - this year!  Chatter on the topic has almost entirely disappeared, so this would be a major surprise.

Houghan is Global Head of Research at Bitwise, and Chairman of Inside ETFs.

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US Crypto Traders - Claim Your $25 BTC...



Wall Street insiders are holding secret meetings - on how to take cryptocurrency into the mainstream...

We have confirmed that a secret meeting just took place, hosted by the world's second largest stock exchange NASDAQ, with a mystery guest list of insiders from both the Wall Street and the cryptocurrency worlds.

"We've approached countless large investors over the last few months and they've told us two things - they want in, but first there's a few steps the cryptocurrency world needs to take. Without going into all the specifics - we're taking those steps" says my source from a major San Francisco based cryptocurrency company - who wishes to remain unnamed for now.

Among topics discussed were how these large firms working together could work to "validate [cryptocurrency's] potential role in global markets" and the "implications of future regulation for cryptocurrencies" as well as "what the necessary tools are and what surveillance will be needed" a source told Bloomberg.

 Expanding on the topic of 'surveillance' this week was the denial of an application to launch the first Bitcoin ETF, placed by the Winkelvoss Twins who first reached fame for suing Mark Zuckerberg claiming they created Facebook.  Zuckerberg settled out of court, they then launched the Gemini exchange. 

Gemini recently hired NASDAQ for this exact reason, to use the tools they developed to provide surveillance over the stock market and spot manipulation, and apply it to the cryptocurrency markets.

While they were denied this week, as surveillance capability expands SEC commissioner Hester Peirce has made her position clear - the end goal for her is to approve a Bitcoin ETF.  These comments triggered the green we're seeing on the charts today.

"This will not be the last meeting of this nature" says Bloomberg's inside source.

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Author: Ross Davis
E-Mail: Ross@GlobalCryptoPress.com Twitter:@RossFM
San Francisco News Desk

Wall Street expert: stay bullish on Bitcoin even during dips, biggest rally's still to come...


Tom Lee explains why he's still bullish on Bitcoin.  Tom was also pushing investors towards cellular phone technology, at a time cellular companies were struggling and the 'experts' were focused on things like long distance service for land-lines. He believes Bitcoin's biggest days are still ahead.

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Let's remember how wrong Warren Buffett has been about technology before...

With cryptocurrency in the spotlight and a media that loves to push doom and gloom, Warren Buffett's comments today are being picked up and shared by virtually every mainstream and financial news outlet.

For those who don't know, Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors on the planet and he's made billions doing it.  In 2008 he was the "richest person in the world" - so understand we're not calling him stupid, that's not the point here.

Today speaking to CNBC's "Squawk Box" he said on the topic of cryptocurrencies:

 "I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending."

But we do think some perspective is needed when someone like him speaks on cryptocurrencies, or tech in general.

Buffett made his billions in in old school industries and traditional finance - coal, tobacco, Coca Cola, Heinz, Bank Of America... you get the idea.

On technology, he's the first to admit - it's not his area of expertise.

When asked why he missed out on Amazon, his response was "I was too dumb".  When asked why he hadn't invested in Google - "I blew it" said Buffett.

Buffett is a genius, when it comes to the things he's a genius on. Technology isn't one of them. 

In fact, history tells us, if it's tech and Buffett doesn't believe in it - a bright future is ahead.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle News Desk

Experts forced to change their tune on Bitcoin futures - as Wall Street traders place most bets on it going HIGHER...


Some "experts" are eating their words today, as the Bitcoin futures market launched Sunday with some surprising results. 

Futures allow someone to bet on Bitcoin either going higher, or lower - to the surprise of many, bets on it going higher dominated the first day of Bitcoin futures trading.

As recent as 2 days ago, CNBC's Jim Cramer was sounding the alarm, predicting the ability to short Bitcoin would finally be it's downfall, saying:

"I think the short selling is just going to annihilate people when you can start trading it. Once this thing starts trading the futures, they are just going to kibosh it.You’re going to see a lot of shenanigans.”

But what a difference a day makes!  Today Cramer had to make a full 180, saying:

"This is a very big victory for bitcoin last night, and I think a lot of people felt it would be inconceivable that when you had a two-sided market that somebody would come in. We do have other exchanges coming in."  Adding "I was hoping we'd get some price discovery. If this is the price discovery, it can head much higher"

That's right - Cramer went from predictions of Bitcoin being "annihilated" to "can head much higher" all in a span of 48 hours.

Bitcoin futures are currently trading via CBOE under the symbol "XBT".


Karan Sood, CBOE Vest CEO speaking to CNBC today said "As a first day, this was a resounding success".

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle News Desk

Billionare Wall Street Investor Mike Novogratz predicts: Bitcoin to $10,000 before years end, Ethereum close to $500!


We featured him in an article before, when he put his money where his mouth is and dropped a $500 Million dollar bet on Bitcoin.

"Bitcoin is built on an amazing technology, and people trust it" he told Bloomberg TV.

He spoke on Ethereum as well "just in the last few days there's been a lot of positive things happening in the Ethereum ecosystem".

As for his predictions - "I think we'll end the year at Bitcoin at $10,000 and Ethereum close to $500".

Mike Novogratz is a former Goldman Sachs partner, and head of Galaxy Investment Partners Michael Novogratz has been a champion of cryptocurrency throughout 2017.

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Author: Adam Lee
Asia News Desk

Wall Street says: If you try us out, we'll give you free stocks to start with...



There's no debate, cryptocurrency has stolen the spotlight for young investors.

But the Robinhood.com is betting that the next step they'll take will be stocks, so much so they're giving new users a share of a random stock, possibly a valuable one, once they sign up for a free account.

Robinhood's co-founder Vlad Tenev recently told CNBC:

"I wouldn't say that we're anticipating a massive shift from stocks to cryptocurrencies."

...But he does think they might branch off in that direction, and participate in both markets.

So much so, that they're giving each new user a free share of a random stock, it could be a smaller company, and some users are getting lucky - scoring a share of Facebook (Worth $180) or Apple (Worth $174)
Some are getting lucky and scoring some high-priced stocks.
We're all for diversifying investments, and kicking it off with a free stock definitely can't hurt your portfolio.

Those interested in giving it shot, can try it out here. 

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Author: Ross Davis
San Francisco News Desk

Brace yourself: Wall Street (and government regulators) are coming...

Cathie Wood, CEO of ARK Investment Management appeared earlier today on Bloomberg to discuss how Wall Street is in a race to offer cryptocurrency options to their fund investors.

ARK has had a great year, with their holdings up nearly 75% investing in companies Tesla, NVidia, and Amazon.  But when looking for the next round of big returns - they're eyeing cryptocurrencies.

This news comes after a mixed month of feedback from Wall Street.

With doubters like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon calling bitcoin a "fraud".

Along with new believers like former Goldman Sachs partner Michael Novogratz, who's putting together a massive $500 million dollar bet that Bitcoin's value will double yet again.

Cathie Wood responded to some of Jamie Dimon's negitive remarks “Jamie is talking about store of value, I actually think this has a lot over fiat currencies” Wood says.

But be warned: where the Wall Street crowd goes, government regulators follow.

2018 is starting to look like the year when both big money, and big government will dive in head first.

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Author: Oliver Redding
Seattle News Desk