2024-06-24 09:07

54% of respondents said they planned to invest in cryptocurrencies in the next three years and 25% of firms said they had a positive impression of digital assets, the study said. 54% of firms surveyed said they planned to invest in crypto in the next three years. A quarter of respondents said they had a positive impression of digital assets. The preferred allocation to crypto was between 2%-5% of AUM, investors said. Nomura (NMR) and its digital asset subsidiary Laser Digital found that over half of Japanese investment managers they spoke to plan to invest in digital assets in the next three years following a survey of institutional investors. The survey showed that 54% of respondents intended to invest in crypto in the next three years and 25% of firms said they had a positive impression of digital assets. Crypto was viewed as a diversification opportunity by 62% of those surveyed, together with cash, stocks, bonds and commodities, and many investors view digital assets as an investment asset class, the study said. The preferred allocation to digital assets was between 2%-5% of assets under management (AUM), investors said, and nearly 80% said they would invest over a year. The development of new products could boost investment in digital assets. For those already involved in cryptocurrencies or those debating investing in digital assets, the main driver for future investment was the development of new products including exchange-traded funds (ETFs), investment trusts, and staking and lending offerings. The survey showed that about half of respondents would like to invest directly in Web3 projects or via venture capital funds. Still, barriers to entry are preventing some managers from investing in digital assets. These barriers include counterparty risk, high volatility and regulatory requirements, the study showed. The bank surveyed 547 Japanese investment managers between April 15 and April 26, including institutional investors, family offices and public-service corporations. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/24/majority-of-japanese-institutional-investors-plan-to-invest-in-crypto-in-next-three-years-nomura-survey/

2024-06-24 07:27

The firm will purchase over $6.2 million worth of bitcoin using proceeds from an upcoming bond issuance, adding to its BTC coffers. Metaplanet plans to increase its bitcoin holdings by purchasing an additional $6 million worth of BTC, adding to its existing $9 million investment. The funds for the purchase will come from an upcoming bond issuance on Wednesday. Stock prices jumped 12% following the statement. Japan-based investment advisor Metaplanet plans to boost its bitcoin (BTC) holdings by another $6 million worth of the token, as per a Monday statement. The firm already has $9 million worth of bitcoin. “Metaplanet Inc. (3350:JP) hereby announces that the Board of Directors has resolved to purchase Bitcoin worth 1 billion yen as of today's meeting,” it said. “While our basic policy is to hold Bitcoin for the long term, if we use Bitcoin for operations or other purposes, the corresponding Bitcoin balance will be recorded as current assets on the balance sheet.” The funds for the purchase are sought from an upcoming bond issuance on Wednesday. These have an annual interest rate of 0.5% and will mature on June 25, 2025. Stock prices jumped as much as 12% in Tokyo trading hours following the statement, Yahoo Finance data shows. Metaplanet started purchasing bitcoin in April to reduce yen exposure and offer Japanese investors crypto access with a preferential tax structure. It officially adopted BTC as a reserve asset in May, and purchased another $1.6 million worth in June. Metaplanet holds 141 BTC as of Monday, data from Bitcointreasuries shows, and is currently the biggest corporate holder of bitcoin in Japan. Bitcoin is down 3% in the past 24 hours and trades at $63,200 as of Asian afternoon hours. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/24/japans-metaplanet-wants-to-buy-another-6m-bitcoin/

2024-06-24 06:52

The CoinDesk 20 index, which tracks major tokens minus stablecoins, slumped just over 4%. Major tokens experienced a significant drop of up to 7.5% in the past 24 hours, with Bitcoin losing 3% and other major cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana also seeing declines. The decline led to the liquidation of over $150 million in bullish bets, attributed to factors including large sales from Bitcoin miners, the German government moving a significant amount of BTC to exchanges, and the broader market sentiment influenced by these movements. Major tokens slid as much as 7.5% in the past 24 hours as bitcoin (BTC) reversed last week’s gains causing over $150 million in bullish bets to be liquidated over the weekend. Bitcoin lost 3%, while ether (ETH), Cardano’s ADA, and BNB Chain’s BNB registered similar losses. Solana’s SOL dropped 7% to trade at nearly $120 on Monday morning, while meme coins dogecoin (DOGE) and shiba inu (SHIB) dropped nearly 5%. The CoinDesk 20 (CD20), which tracks major tokens minus stablecoins, slumped just over 4%. The move caused longs, or bets on higher prices, to record more than $150 million in liquidations. Shorts, or bets against, saw a relatively smaller $9 million in losses. Liquidation refers to when an exchange forcefully closes a trader's leveraged position due to a partial or total loss of the trader's initial margin. Some funds attributed the losses to large sales from Bitcoin miners and reactive sentiment to a German government moving a significant amount of BTC to exchanges. “Miners have been under tremendous pressure to sell given higher breakeven prices post-halving,” Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a Telegram broadcast over the weekend. “Miner BTC holdings have dropped to the lowest level we've seen in the past 14 years, with total reserves lower by 50,000 from the start of the year.” “The market has also been spooked by the emergence of a new large pool of supply. The German government allegedly sold around 3k BTC in the last few days with 47K more to go,” it added. As previously reported, bitcoin whales—or entities with large holdings of the token—sold over $1 billion worth of BTC in the first two weeks of June alone. The German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which had seized almost 50,000 BTC from a piracy site in 2013, started moving tens of millions worth of BTC to crypto exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken last week. Monday’s drop extends one of bitcoin’s worst weeks so far this year. BTC prices have generally suffered in the past few weeks amid $1 billion in sales from large holders, dollar strength, and a strong U.S. technology index market. U.S.-listed bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded over $1 billion in net outflows last week, data shows. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/24/bitcoin-nears-62k-as-crypto-bulls-see-150m-in-liquidation/

2024-06-24 06:27

The bearish pattern hints at a further correction. The U.S. election and CPI could be a bullish factor later this year. Fed's preferred inflation gauge, the PCE price index, due Friday, could offer relief. Bitcoin (BTC) has carved out a double-top price pattern, signaling a potential bearish trend change ahead of key data release that could influence the Fed's interest rate path. Bitcoin's price journey has been a rollercoaster this month. After surging to nearly $70,000, approaching the all-time high of March, it has now retreated to $63,000, decoupling from Nasdaq's continued move higher, largely due to faster selling by miners, profit-taking by investors near lifetime highs, and outflows from the U.S.-listed spot exchange-traded funds. The price action has formed a double top, a bearish technical analysis pattern comprising two peaks with a valley in the middle, usually appearing after a notable uptrend. The second peak represents uptrend exhaustion, with the eventual breach of the low hit between the two peaks confirming a bearish trend change. "Technically, bitcoin appears to follow a double top formation, whereas the support level is being tested. This chart formation should be our base case unless it becomes invalidated. This formation could easily see a drop to $50,000—if not $45,000," Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said. "Yes, the U.S. election and CPI should be bullish later this year, but we can still have a steeper correction," Thielen added. However, the Fed's preferred inflation yardstick, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index for May, is expected to show the slowest monthly advance in the core figure in over three years. That would cement the case for renewed Fed rate cuts from September, potentially putting a floor under risk assets, including bitcoin. "[Recent] Strong economic data has forced [bond] yields higher and precious metals lower on Friday. This continues to stand in the way of digital hard assets like crypto," Greg Magadini, director of derivatives at Amberdata, said in the weekly newsletter shared with CoinDesk. "This week we have multiple Fed Governors speaking, GDP and most importantly PCE on Friday (the Fed’s favorite inflation indicator)," Magadini added. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect no change in the PCE price index and a meager 0.1% uptick in the core PCE, amounting to 2.6% annual advances in both the headline and core figures. The projected core increase, excluding food and energy, would be the smallest since March 2021. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/24/bitcoins-double-top-suggests-btc-could-fall-to-50k-analyst/

2024-06-21 21:13

Constantly diluting supply with token unlocks, selling pressure from venture funds, lack of fresh inflows to crypto and seasonal trends all contributed to the brutal drawdown in altcoin prices. Crypto majors such as SOL, AVAX, APT, SUI saw 40% to 70% corrections over the past months, weighing on altcoin sentiment, while BTC and ETH are down only 15% from their yearly highs. Venture funds are under pressure to sell tokens to realize profits on their investments made in the past years, Markus Thielen noted. The lack of capital inflows to crypto markets "has particularly bad implications for tokens with large upcoming unlocks as well as new [tokens] and airdrop programs," Anagram partner David Shuttleworth said. The cryptocurrency market is undergoing a healthy consolidation after a massive run-up from October to March – at least for those who invested in the two largest digital assets. For those who hold smaller cryptocurrencies, though, this is a brutal correction, with sentiment in crypto social media circles resembling bear market despair. While bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum's ether (ETH) are only 15% below their yearly highs, several crypto majors like solana (SOL) and avalanche (AVAX) are down 40% to 50% from their March peaks, while layer-1 challengers sui (SUI) and aptos (APT) have cratered 60% to 70%. Selling pressure from venture funds with broadening supply token unlocks, lack of fresh inflows to crypto and seasonal trends all contributed to weakness in altcoins, a term used to describe cryptocurrencies beyond the biggest ones like bitcoin and ether. High dilution Many altcoins experience a constantly diluting supply of tokens via unlocks and distributions scheduled for years ahead. This is because most of the tokens are locked up, bought by early investors or earmarked for ecosystem developments and grants. For example, Ethereum layer-2 network Arbitrum's token (ARB) is nearing its all-time low price from last September, even though its market capitalization has risen to $2.5 billion from $1 billion because of a massive increase in its supply. Another example is solana, whose supply is inflating by 75,000 tokens, worth some $10 million at current prices, every day. "Unlike equities which have a constant passive bid from ETF inflows and bond buybacks, crypto, and in particular altcoins, have the opposite – a constant stream of sell pressure," Quinn Thomson, founder of crypto hedge fund Lekker Capital, noted in an X post. A significant portion of the selling pressure comes from venture capital funds realizing profits on their early investments in projects launched over the past years. "Venture capital funds invested $13 billion in Q1 2022, while the market turned into a steep bear market," Markus Thielen, founder of 10x Research, said in a report earlier this week. "Those funds are now under pressure from their investors to return capital as artificial intelligence (AI) has become a hotter theme." When the market's appetite for the smaller, more speculative crypto assets is dwindling and trading volumes are falling – like in the past few months – there's not enough demand to absorb this supply shock. Lack of fresh inflows Liquidity inflows to crypto markets have also stalled or even reversed over the past weeks, shown by the market value of stablecoins, which are mostly used as an intermediary for crypto trading. The combined market capitalization of the four largest stablecoins – Tether's USDT, Circle's USDC, First Digital's FDUSD and Maker's DAI – has been flat since April after a $30 billion expansion earlier this year, per TradingView data. Stablecoin balances on exchanges – which translates to dry powder for traders and investors – decreased $4 billion to the lowest level since February, David Shuttleworth, partner at Anagram, pointed out in an X post citing Nansen data. "This has particularly bad implications for tokens with large upcoming unlocks as well as new [tokens] and airdrop programs," Shuttleworth said. Recently launched tokens of blockchain bridge Wormhole (W), yield-bearing synthetic dollar protocol Ethena (ENA) and layer-2 network Starknet (STRK) all plummeted roughly 60% to 70% in price from their respective highs and will face billions of dollars worth of tokens being distributed in the coming years. Seasonal trends have been also bearish for smaller tokens, with June usually being a down month for altcoins. TradingView data shows that the aggregated market cap for crypto assets excluding BTC and ETH, captured by TOTAL.3 metric, saw a decline in every June during the past six years. This month is on track to be no exception, with TOTAL.3 down 11% to date. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/21/this-is-why-altcoin-investors-struggle-despite-bitcoin-ether-sitting-near-yearly-highs/

2024-06-21 18:04

Previous reports from Boston Consulting Group and 21Shares forecasted over $10 trillion of tokenized assets by the end of the decade in their optimistic scenarios. Tokenization adoption will happen in waves led by assets such as mutual funds, bonds, loans, McKinsey said in a report. Many institutions are still in "wait and see" mode while early movers can capture "oversized market share," the report added. The market of tokenized assets might be just $4 trillion even in an optimistic scenario by 2030 as financial institutions embrace blockchain technology for traditional financial instruments at a slower pace and limited range of assets than more optimistic reports predicted, global consulting firm McKinsey & Company said in a Thursday report. "Broad adoption of tokenization is still far away," the authors said, noting the number could be as low as $1 trillion. "As infrastructure players pivot away from proofs of concept to robust scaled solutions, many opportunities and challenges remain to reimagine how the future of financial services will work." Tokenization emerged as one of the hottest use cases for blockchains during this bull market as global asset managers and banks such as BlackRock, Citigroup and HSBC along with native digital asset firms are putting old-school assets such as U.S. Treasuries and commodities – also known as real-world assets (RWA) – to blockchain rails in hopes for operational efficiencies and broader access among benefits. The trend gained widespread attention over the past year with reports by Boston Consulting Group and digital asset manager 21Shares predicting the tokenized asset market to reach several multiples of the McKinsey estimate by the end of the decade. The McKinsey report said that tokenization is at a "tipping point," with many projects stepping out from pilot to deployment at scale. In its base case, the company estimated the tokenized asset market to reach nearly $2 trillion market size by 2030, notably excluding tokenized deposits, stablecoins and central bank digital currencies from calculation. McKinsey's $4 trillion bullish scenario would be supported by more accommodating regulations, industry-wide collaboration and without any systemic events happening that would hinder adoption. Mutual funds, bonds, exchange-traded notes, repurchase agreements (repos), alternative funds, loans and securitization will be the frontrunners of tokenization efforts, according to the report. Meanwhile, the authors see slower adoption for assets such as real estate, commodities and equities, citing reasons like marginal benefits, concerns over feasibility, complex compliance requirements or lack of incentive for key industry players to pursue tokenization. Many institutions still are in "wait and see" mode anticipating a clearer signal to implement tokenization, which may put early movers in position to capture "oversized" market share, the report added. "Blockchain technology is still in early days and requires a material amount of integration with existing processes and standards," Anthony Moro, CEO of Provenance Blockchain Labs, said in a note to CoinDesk. "Most institutions recognize tokenization needs to be a large part of their business moving forward, but technical integration is where the rubber meets the road." https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2024/06/21/mckinsey-sees-just-2t-of-tokenized-rwas-by-2030-in-base-case-with-broad-adoption-still-far-away/