As retail investors feel crypto winter's chill, institutional players turn up the heat
Once bitten… still not shy. Crypto's going through a rough patch, but that hasn't slowed down major investment firms. Out of 180+ active crypto exchange-traded products (like funds that track cryptocurrencies), more than half launched after the crypto market peaked late last year. So as retail investors ran for the sidelines, Big Money kept playing ball despite crypto winter's chill:
- Blockpain: Bitcoin's down 70% from its high of almost $69K last year, and ether's down over 70%.
- Crypt d'oh: 95% of active exchange-traded products (ETPs) focus on bitcoin and ether.
Team crypto hasn't shrunk… it's just traded players. While the public's interest in crypto has declined, big banks and tech titans are filling the void. Last week BNY Mellon said it's getting into the crypto-custody biz, following a similar announcement from Nasdaq last month. Meanwhile, Mastercard said it'll help banks offer their clients crypto trading, and Google signed a deal with Coinbase to facilitate crypto cloud payments (picture: cloud-storage bills paid in doge).
Once the ball's rolling, it's hard to stop… The crypto market's changed radically in the past 11 months (remember: $2T in value lost), and crypto projects coming online today were likely born in sunnier times. So it's unclear if recent ETPs and custody announcements are a sustained vote of confidence in crypto's long-term value or merely the result of lingering bull-market momentum. But if techies, major banks, and credit-card cos keep adding crypto offerings, it could mean they see a crypto spring coming.