Marshall Wace, a London-based hedge fund giant managing about $55 billion in assets, is reportedly planning a major move into cryptocurrency and blockchain investment. The hedge fund firm is preparing to launch a dedicated portfolio, targeting investments in the digital asset industry, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Citing anonymous people familiar with the matter, the report notes that the new initiative will focus on investing in privatelyowned digital finance companies working in areas like blockchain technology and payments systems for digital currencies and stablecoins. It is believed that Marshall Wace’s new digital finance portfolio will be headed by Amit …

MicroStrategy CEO and Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor recently featured in an interview to share his insights into the global macro environment alongside Bitcoin (BTC) and crypto in general. Speaking about the risks related to volatility, Saylor said, “The people that invest in Bitcoin as traders — and they don’t, they don’t have a technology view or the macro view — they’re always going to be disappointed because of volatility.” Matching the advice of seasoned crypto traders, Saylor cautioned viewers to invest (in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies) only as much as they can afford to lose. The American entrepreneur also warned …

2021 has already seen a number of eye-catching milestones reached for the nascent nonfungible token (NFT) market, which has seen an increase in value of 2,100% from Q4 2020, with consumers spending over $2 billion. While headlines have been dominated by record-breaking sales, what’s often overlooked is the growing demand from new investors. According to NonFungible, which tracks NFT transactions, there were 73,000 NFT buyers and 33,000 NFT sellers in Q1. Although these numbers may seem impressive, they are in fact relatively small compared to the global art market, which was valued at $64.7 billion in 2018, with the United …

Throughout Bitcoin's historic price surges and falls, investors have tried and failed to employ traditional markers to make sense out of the volatile trends. CNBC recently conducted a survey on a group of portfolio managers and equity strategists to understand the inner sentiment of the fintech community toward Bitcoin. Answering the survey for "Where will Bitcoin be by the end of the year?" Squawk Box reported: “Forty-four percent say (Bitcoin) will be below $30,000 and about flat for the year. Others are more optimistic.” Out of the remaining 56%, 25% predicted the price to shoot up and settle at $45,000 …

Crypto hedge fund Nickel Digital Asset Management cycled into a cash position following the crypto market collapse of May. According to Bloomberg, the $200 million crypto hedge fund led by JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs alumni redeployed its capital in anticipation of another explosive price run for cryptocurrencies. Prior to piling into a cash position, Nickel Digital focused on cryptocurrency arbitrage opportunities resulting from cryptocurrency price differences across the spots and derivatives markets. Indeed, crypto arbitrage trading reportedly offered double-digit annualized gains for institutional investors with sufficient capital to make sizable returns on these momentary price gaps. These trades are market …

The launch of the energy efficient Ethereum 2.0 network will popularize the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and make staking yields a more attractive source of income for both institutional and retail investors according to a new JPMorgan report. The authors estimate that holders of staked coins on PoS blockchains are currently generating some $9 billion in revenue annually from their staked holdings. When Ethereum completes its transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) next year, the analysts expect payouts will more-than-double to $20 billion. They project staking yields across the blockchain industry to double again to $40 billion by 2025. The …

Alex Mashinsky, the CEO of centralized crypto money market Celsius, has revealed that a share of profits from the company's recent $200 million investment into Bitcoin mining infrastructure will be redistributed back to depositors. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Mashinsky stated the firm's mining expansion has added a fifth stream of yield generation for its crypto depositors — alongside lending funds to institutional investors, leveraging DeFi protocols, retail lending, and market making on centralized exchanges. In early June, Celsius announced it had invested more than $200 million into North American Bitcoin mining infrastructure and positions in Core Scientific, Rhodium Enterprises and Luxor …

Soros Fund Management, the private investment firm of billionaire George Soros, is reportedly trading Bitcoin (BTC) as part of a broader exploration of digital assets, according to financial news website TheStreet. People familiar with the matter told author Michael Bodley that Dawn Fitzpatrick, the chief investment officer for Soros Fund Management, gave the green light to trade Bitcoin and possibly other cryptocurrencies in the last few weeks. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the sources said Fitzpatrick and her team have been exploring cryptocurrencies for some time and that the latest venture is “more than just kicking the tires” on digital …

The U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is penalizing Robinhood to the tune of roughly $70 million based on the results of an investigation into the stock and cryptocurrency trading app. In a Wednesday announcement, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, said it had ordered Robinhood to pay $57 million in fines to the regulatory body as well as provide roughly $12.6 million in restitution to certain customers. FINRA alleged the trading platform caused “widespread and significant harm” to thousands of users and exhibited “systemic supervisory failures” starting as early as September 2016. “The fine imposed in this matter, the …

Betterment, a U.S.-based financial advisory company with roughly $30 billion under management, is mulling offering crypto investment opportunities for its customers. In an interview with Yahoo Finance released today, CEO Sarah Levy said the company had been searching for ways to offer Betterment customers a means to add crypto to their portfolios given the growing interest in the digital asset space. She added that though the market was volatile, it may still offer long-term investment opportunities to those who were properly informed about the space. "Personally, I'm a big fan of crypto and I think it's a really interesting asset …

Russia’s central bank has scheduled a risk assessment for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), according to the Bank of Russia’s screening program for the second half of 2021. The examination of the potential risks of cryptocurrency investing will consider “systemic risks linked to cryptocurrency investment by Russian individuals and entities.” As part of the investigation, the Bank of Russia will collect data from 15 credit organizations including major banks like Sberbank, VTB and Tinkoff Bank, payment systems like Visa and Mastercard, and electronic payment providers like Western Union, Qiwi and WebMoney. The Bank of Russia is also looking to release a …

Institutional investors are looking for ways to participate in the crypto market without going out of the regulated space or mastering the advanced technology behind Bitcoin (BTC), and asset managers are finding alternative solutions to meet the need. Paris-based investment management company Melanion Capital partnered with index platform Bita to launch the Melanion Bitcoin Exposure Index, according to information shared with Cointelegraph. The index tracks a beta-weighted equities basket exhibiting the highest correlation and revenue exposure to BTC to follow the biggest cryptocurrency’s performance in a traditional investment fund format. Melanion Bitcoin Exposure Index is built to provide investors “with …