The 132-year-old Swiss asset management firm, Julius Baer, intends to offer exposure to cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (DeFi) for its high net-worth clients. The firm’s CEO Philipp Rickenbacher confirmed the move into the cryptocurrency space during his delivery of the company’s strategy update for the next three years. Rickenbacher noted that the recent slump in the cryptocurrency markets presented a watershed moment for its clients to gain exposure to the nascent asset class. “It could well be at this very instant that we are witnessing a bubble-burst moment of the crypto-industry and we all know what happened after the dot-com …

In traditional finance, index funds have gained traction as an affordable and easy way to invest in a diversified group of assets. Now, as the world moves to the digital space, these vehicles that have a history of improving the investor experience have also become available for cryptocurrency assets. Conceptually a cryptocurrency index fund makes sense, especially when considering the added complexities of digital asset purchases and storage. However, in practice, a lack of regulations limits their widespread adoption. When seeking out new investment opportunities, many institutional clients expect the same assurances standard in traditional offerings, including audits and third-party …

Cryptocurrency investment manager Galaxy Digital Holdings reported a sharp loss in the first quarter due to unrealized losses in its digital asset portfolio, underscoring heightened volatility in the digital asset sector in 2022. Galaxy Digital reported a net comprehensive loss of $111.7 million in the quarter ending March 31, compared to a gain of $858.2 million in the same quarter of 2021, the company announced Monday. In addition to unrealized losses in its digital asset portfolio, Galaxy’s overall losses were also attributed to investments in its trading and investment businesses. The firm did report aggregate profitability for its asset management, …

Cointelegraph Research conducted a first-of-its-kind survey querying over 2,000 global crypto funds and certificates to gain an insight into their investment allocations during 2021. The survey was conducted via email between March 2021 and December 2021. The 200 funds that responded collectively managed approximately $1.2 billion in cryptocurrency and blockchain investments. Interestingly, the study found that 20 surveyed asset allocators already have exposure to Dash in their portfolio, including Valkyrie, Parallax Digital, Block Ventures, INDX Capital and others. An additional 40 funds reported that they wanted to invest in Dash during the next 12 months, and 70% of respondents requested …

SkyBridge Capital is working on pivoting the majority of its assets under management (AUM) to digital assets, as the sector represents “tremendous growth” for the firm. The hedge fund was founded by former United States politician Anthony Scaramucci in 2005 and first delved into Bitcoin (BTC) in late 2020. The firm also has money deployed in other hedge funds, late-stage private tech companies and real estate, with its total AUM reported being around $7.3 billion. Skybridge now manages a $7 million Bitcoin Fund among others, and has been actively working to get a spot BTC exchange-traded fund (ETF) approved by …

Digital asset management firm Grayscale, has added three new cryptocurrency assets across three main investment funds, while removing two other assets from its Decentralized Finance Fund as part of this year’s first quarterly rebalance. Grayscale removed tokens from crypto-derivatives decentralized exchange Synthetix (SNX), and decentralized exchange SushiSwap (SUSHI), from its DeFi fund after the two crypto assets failed to meet the required minimum market capitalization. No other cryptocurrencies were removed during the rebalancing. Grayscale’s DeFi fund, which was launched in July last year, currently holds approximately $8 million in assets. The digital assets remaining in the DeFi fund after the …

Stablecoin operator TrustToken has launched a new lending marketplace that allows asset managers to create their own decentralized finance products, potentially opening the door to wider mainstream adoption of DeFi solutions. The new lending marketplace, which is offered on unsecured lending protocol TrueFi, gives independent financial institutions the ability to design, launch and fund new investment products. Asset managers also have access to TrueFi’s pool of lenders and borrowers as well as TrustToken’s institutional offerings. Version 1 of the TrueFi protocol was shipped to institutional clients in November 2020 around the same time that the native TRU token launched. The …

The Bitcoin AUM market fell 9.5% to $48.7 billion in November, marking the year’s largest month-on-month pullback since July, according to a CryptoCompare report. On the other hand, altcoin-based crypto funds such as ETH saw their AUM rise 5.4% to $16.6 billion. While Bitcoin’s (BTC) position as a viable hedge against fiat inflation continues to attract investors, new data reflects a change in sentiment as Ethereum (ETH) and other cryptocurrency products pick up steam against falling Bitcoin assets under management (AUM). As shown in the above graph, the total AUM across all digital asset investment products has fallen 5.5% to …

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, has officially disapproved asset manager VanEck’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund months after the firm submitted its application. According to a Nov. 12 filing, the SEC rejected a proposed rule change from the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade shares of VanEck’s Bitcoin (BTC) Trust. Specifically, the SEC said any rule change in favor of approving the ETF would not be “‘designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” nor “protect investors and the public interest.” “The Commission concludes that BZX has not met its burden under the Exchange Act and …

Institutional investors are continuing to pile into Bitcoin (BTC) despite prices pushing up to a five-month high. According to CoinShares’ Tuesday “Digital Asset Fund Flows Weekly” report, more than $226 million in capital flowed to institutional Bitcoin products this past week. Bitcoin products dominated inflows for the third consecutive week, posting a week-over-week increase of 227%. The heavy inflows coincided with the price of BTC gaining 12.5% for the week, with BTC sitting at around $54,000 on Friday. CoinShares attributes the positive shift in sentiment toward Bitcoin to recent statements from United States Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler …

Australian digital asset manager Monochrome has concluded a $1.8 million Series A fundraiser led by some of crypto’s most influential entrepreneurs, underscoring the growing potential of institutional-grade crypto-asset solutions. The cash injection will be used by Monochrome to develop new products specializing in Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets, the company said. The Series A was co-led by Litecoin creator Charlie Lee, Blockstream chief strategy officer Samson Mow, former Binance CFO Wei Zhou and Kain Warwick, the founder of Blueshyft and DeFi protocol Synthetix. Following the raise, Monochrome’s total valuation was estimated to be worth roughly $15 million. Monochrome was …

Franklin Templeton became the latest investment company to go on a cryptocurrency hiring spree by posting fresh job applications seeking crypto professionals. The American asset manager is looking for two mid-senior level experts to lead its crypto trading and research efforts, according to LinkedIn job postings published on Sept. 1. Franklin Templeton’s newly opened crypto positions target professionals to work with the “largest, most liquid and tradable crypto assets,” including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). The company’s crypto research analyst will be responsible for creating and maintaining valuation models, and keeping portfolio managers and senior executives informed of related business …